LFL: B'MOUTH

This was most definitely a game to forget for us and even before Danso’s dismissal, the writing was on the wall as we looked all over the place at the back. Roefs was rightly criticized last weekend but he played a blinder today and though it’s little consolation, this could have been a lot worse without his efforts.

BEFORE

We slipped into the bottom three yesterday but a win today could, depending on other results, give us a good boost upwards. I think we can just about do it but we need to start with Le Fee and Xhaka, as we no doubt will. I think we'll also see Brobbey and Diarra make appearances but maybe just later in the game. It'll be great to have them back as they can both make an impact. Bournemouth are one point below us and haven't won a game yet but they've also won their two Europa League matches. Of course they're going to be battling to get away from the bottom too so I expect something of an ugly tussle of a game. Once again I'll be watching the match in the company of other members of the SAFCSA London Branch and my match prediction is a 2-1 win for us.

I got to the venue just after 1.15 and there were a few of the Faithful present. On checking the team-news there were, unsurprisingly, a number of changes from the Torreense game with Mukiele, Danso, Reinildo, Xhaka and Le Fee coming in for O’Nien, Methalie, Ahoka, Angulo and Fofana, all of whom were on the bench. Diarra and Talbi were also among the subs but disappointingly Brobbey Isidor weren’t. Tavernier was starting for them and I remember him being a handful. There was a lot of doom and gloom on the various SAFC pages online with the usual vitriol directed against Hume. There were nine of our lot in the bar by the time we kicked off.

THE GAME

We were playing in our pink strip and I’ve just about got used to it now. Bournemouth pressurised from the off and created a couple of chances in the first ninety seconds. The second attempt led to a corner and we managed to get it clear. In the fifth minute they took the lead after Danso and Alderete got themselves mixed up and a cross from our left was headed in by Tavernier. We managed to rally a bit and in the eighth we created a decent chance resulting in a shot by Hume but the offside flag was up anyway. In the next minute Danso had a header from a free-kick but it was wide of the right post. That was better from us but again we gave the ball away in our half and things were hard enough without doing that. In the seventeenth things got a lot worse when Danso was red-carded for bringing down Evanilson and denying a clear chance. It should never have happened as Alderete had an opportunity to clear the ball before it got that far but failed to do so. The Danso-Alderete combination had been a disaster so far and clearly wasn’t about to continue. This also resulted in a free-kick in a dodgy spot and at least Tavernier put that wide. I was thinking that 1-1 would be a great result for us but that would take a great deal of doing as Bournemouth looked threatening every time they went forward.

Antonio Silva was yellow-carded for a foul on Mukiele and the latter was down receiving treatment for a while. Even after a bit of spray he didn’t seem ready to return and we went down to nine men but then the sight of O’Nien warming up brought a little cheer to us in the bar. Just after the half-hour mark Roefs did well to block the ball but Smith missed a golden chance in his follow-up effort. Mukiele finally returned and was there to make a crucial block, though he was still hobbling a bit. Five minutes later we escaped a penalty shout and I was glad to settle for just a corner from which Roefs made a great save from a Rayan header. Bournemouth were soon back winning a corner on the other side and we survived that one too. Needless to say we weren’t doing much at all in their half but if we could keep it to 0-1 at half-time and then regroup, that would be something at least. Alderete was booked with five minutes to the break but we then won our first corner, though it was comfortably held by Petrovic in goal. Six minutes of added-time were announced and Roefs again made a great save, from a long-distance Rayan shot. I could hear our fans in the stadium coming across loud and clear while the home fans hadn’t made much of a racket so far. Cook was booked for a foul on Rigg and that was about it for the first-half. Well, despite the overall bleakness, there was still only one goal in it so anything could happen.

There were no changes to either side as we restarted the game. Within thirty seconds Roefs had to make a crucial save. He’d been our player of the match so far. In the forty-eighth the game surely went completely beyond us when Alderete, who’d had a complete mare, made a terrible back-pass to Roefs but created a golden chance for Evanilson who happily gave Roefs no chance and it was 0-2. It was real arses to the wall for us and it wasn’t looking like we could keep it to 0-2. In the fifty-seventh Roefs dived at the feet of Rayan to deny him a chance and that was one duel that we’d had the better of. Very soon O’Nien and Diarra came on for Alderete and Tutierov. It had been tough for Tutierov on his Premier League debut as he’d barely had a sniff of the ball. Our fans were still making a racket and they nearly had something to cheer about when Diarra put in a great cross from the right but nobody could get a touch on it. Roefs continued to play a blinder and without him the score would have been embarrassing already. Rigg was booked and was then immediately replaced by Ahoka.

As we entered the final quarter the stats onscreen told the whole story with Bournemouth having had twenty-two attempts and us one. In the seventy-third Le Fee had an attempt so we doubled that stat at any rate. Soon we won another corner and that was something too. We started to have an encouraging spell and how sick would Bournemouth be if they threw away their lead? Well, I could always dream. In the seventy-ninth Bournemouth took off their two goalscorers so they seemed to be comfortable enough about their impending win. Not a great deal happened for a good while and certainly we didn’t threaten their goal.

Surprisingly six minutes of added-time were announced and I had mixed feelings about that as things could possibly get worse. They didn’t but at the final whistle 0-2 was bad enough.