Rico Wilson scored his first goal in a Poppies shirt as they went on to secure an important 1-0 win against Portland United in the Wessex Premier Division.
Poppies entered the game winless in 20, with manager Phill Brown desperate to turn his team’s misfortunes around.
Neither side managed to forge a clear-cut chance throughout the opening stages of the first half, as Poppies chased their first league win since September.
It didn’t take much longer for a goal to come though, as Rico Wilson emerged after a scramble to net his first for the Poppies.
The game seemed to come alive after the goal; the visitors, Portland United, created a shooting chance for Ryan McKechnie that was well saved by Noah Crisp.
Another chance came the Visitors’ way as the first period progressed, Portland striker Liam Sayers got on the end of a looped ball, his header forced another good save from Crisp.
One final set piece for Portland came as a header from Shawn Bessant forced another smart Crisp save, and shortly after the teams left the field with Poppies’ leading 1-0.
Portland restarted the game on top, the introduction of Marcus Smith, during the interval, tightened up the midfield and allowed Portland to press the Bournemouth defence.
This change seemed to work as Portland began to take control of the play and left Poppies with very little opportunity on the break.
Following this, the ball fell to Sayers on the edge of the box, he unleashed a drive that looked certain to hit the top corner, Crisp however managed to pull off a superb diving save to his right.
The final minutes of the game provided some brilliant entertainment as another world-class save by Crisp to deny Smith was followed up by a goal line clearance from the Poppies.
After what seemed like an eternity of added time, the referee ended the game as Poppies claimed their first victory since September in the Wessex League, three points that seemed almost impossible for Phill Brown’s team to find in recent weeks.
Bournemouth FC
Crisp; Medway, Turner, Frost, Manuel; Carkeet, Garcia (90+4’); Mantle (90+6’), Cullen, Graham (87’); Wilson (57’).
Subs
Lamb (57’), McLeod-McMonagle (87’), Goodhall (90+4’), Edwards (90+6’), Harvey.
Portland United
Edgar; Harvey, Bessant, Callow, Stuttle (86’); McKechnie (70’), Williams, Doyle, Diaz (45’); Rowe, Sayers.
Subs
Smith (45’), Borthwick (70’), Symes (86’), Pritchard, Thomas.