Monday, 21 November 2011

Wycombe Wanderers 0 Bournemouth 1

When Stuart Beavon stepped up to ram home an equaliser from the spot, most people expected that would be the outcome. Beavon is a class act and has been Mr. Reliable for the Chairboys this season, but on this occasion the ball flew high and wide and an hour later the Cherries headed for the south coast with all three points.

As it eventually turned out, Bournemouth's leading scorer Marc Pugh had already settled the game with the only goal minutes before Beavon's miss and his club's shaky start to the season and recent improvement shows that hard work and team spirit can indeed turn things around.

Football can be a fast changing business. Bournemouth striker Wes Thomas - who left Cheltenham for Crawley in the summer - is a case in point.

I caught up with Wes after the game and while he kept the reasons to himself, told me that what he had thought would be a dream move to Crawley, just didn't turn out that way. After a few games he was loaned out to Bournemouth and then suddenly found his career was back on track. He'll be joining the club on a two and a half year deal in January, but given the effort he put in on Saturday, he's already bought into manager Lee Bradbury's plans.

The same goes for every other Bournemouth player and none more so than winger Pugh who worked the flanks tirelessly both in attack and in support of his full back.

Pugh was the sole survivor of Eddie Howe's regime to start on Saturday and was hotly tipped to leave the club last summer, but told me how he sees Bradbury as someone with the same ability as Howe. His commitment on the pitch was reflected in his words and, with the likes him, Thomas and their team mates, Bradbury can expect his side to carry on their rise up the table.

If Wycombe can take a leaf out of Bournemouth's book, there is no reason why they can't do the same. They just need a little change of luck. As someone once said, the harder you work, the luckier you get.

 
My clipping from this morning's paper

No comments:

Post a Comment