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A narrow 2-1 home victory for Bournemouth against Hereford has pushed the Cherries closer to sealing automatic promotion. The hosts took the lead just after the half-hour mark when Brett Pitman scored from the spot; the striker added his second in the second-half after seizing on a mistake by Sam Gwynne. The last kick of the game saw Marc Pugh score a consolation goal in front of 6,128 at Dean Court.
Mathieu Manset was deemed unfit before the game, allowing Leon Constantine the opportunity to impress. Lewis Young and James McQuilken were both demoted to the bench with Gavin McCallum and Gwynne replacing them in midfield. Bournemouth named two former Hereford players in their team, with Alan Connell starting on left-wing, whilst Sammy Igoe had to be content with a place on the bench.
The Bulls started the game well, creating some early chances following some good moves. A forward pass from Ryan Green was flicked on by Constantine into the path of McCallum whose sharp burst allowed him a striking opportunity from 20 yards that Shawn Jalal held onto. A similar chance fell to Gwynne, after Constantine picked him out but once again, the shot lacked direction and Jalal didn't have to move to make a routine save. After Gwynne gave the ball away, a deep cross from the right saw veteran Steve Fletcher combine with young gun Pitman, and his header landed on the roof of Adam Bartlett's net. The lively McCallum looked dangerous around the box, with quick feet and swift turns of pace and he again tested Jalal from the left hand side of the area with his strike comfortably held.
The home team took the lead in the 32nd minute when a long-ball was flicked into the box by Fletcher and a mis-timed clearance by Ryan Valentine saw the Welsh defender catch Danny Hollands and not the ball. The referee duly awarded a penalty and Pitman confidently stepped up to send Bartlett the wrong way, and send the packed 'Steve Fletcher Stand' into raptures. A weak clearance by Green saw Hollands loop a strike towards goal, with Bartlett out of place but Valentine was on hand to head the ball away from danger. As the half progressed to an end, Pitman's switch of play found the impressive Liam Feeney, who cut in from the left before placing a right-foot shot onto the roof of the net. Moments after that chance, Feeney was again involved when he raced onto a through ball by Fletcher before picking out Pitman, whose powerful drive towards goal was well parried by Bartlett. Hereford nearly snatched an equaliser in added time when a free-kick from inside the Whites' half was flicked on by Constantine and the former Torquay man got lucky as the ball rebounded nicely to him allowing him to fire instinctively towards goal with only the post stopping a certain goal with Jalal routed to his spot.
After the entertainment on show in the first-half, the second period failed to live up to expectation. Eddie Howe replaced Connell during the break with Igoe but this had little effect on the pattern of the game. The danger men were Feeney and Pitman with the two combining to good effect with the latter forcing a smart save from Bartlett after spinning on the edge of the box. Young replaced Jake Jervis, who proved ineffective at leading the line. McCallum, who was trying single handedly to pull Hereford back into the game, picked up a pass from Green just inside the hosts' half and drove forward but dragged a strike harmlessly wide from 25 yards.
Bournemouth doubled their advantage in the 72nd minute after Gwynne underhit a pass to Richard Rose; Pitman picked up the ball, nipped it past Rose before slotting it past Bartlett and into the net. Immediately after, Gwynne was replaced by McQuilken. The game was petering out, with more subs being made; Jeff Goulding replaced Fletcher, whilst Craig King came on for McCallum. An encouraging counter-attack by Hereford saw the ball eventually find Constantine, who managed to take all the pace and promise out of the attack, eventually settling for a pass to McQuilken who failed to hit the target from 20 yards. Warren Cummings replaced Feeney, before in the final minute of added time, the away supporters were given something to shout about when Pugh grabbed his third goal of the season against the Cherries. Kenny Lunt, who was quiet for large parts of the game, threaded a superb through ball to meet the run of Pugh, who simply rolled the ball past the onrushing Jalal from 25 yards.
The win puts Bournemouth in an excellent position to seal automatic promotion, with six points separating themselves and fourth placed Rotherham. As for United, the first-half saw some encouraging football being played but too often, a lack of sharpness up top was their downfall. The front pairing for the home side of Fletcher and Pitman were a handful in the air, which seemed their only real intention in their style of play. Next up for Hereford is a trip to old Conference foes Accrington Stanley this coming Saturday.
Hereford: Bartlett, Green, D. Jones, Rose, Valentine, McCallum (King), Gwynne (McQuilken), Lunt, Pugh, Constantine, Jervis (Young)
Subs not used: Lowe, Done, Weir, C. Jones.
Bournemouth: Jalal, Bradbury, Pearce, Bartley, Wiggins, Feeney (Cummings), Hollands, Robinson, Connell (Igoe), Pitman, Fletcher (Goulding).
Subs not used: Thomas, Guyett, McQuoid, Partington.
