A very lacklustre second half from Bournemouth saw them dominated by visitors Reading who came away disappointed with a 1-1 draw.
It was a puzzling second 45 minutes on Bournemouth’s behalf as they lost the one goal lead acquired in the first half. An encouraging first 15 minutes saw Dominic Solanke finish off an exquisite passage of play. A passage in which all fans have been crying out for in recent times. From midway in the first half the game continually slipped from Bournemouth, and they paid the price.
Without head coach Scott Parker on the side-line, it was to be interesting to see how the side would perform. It was assistant Matt Wells that would take the reins (with an earpiece for Parker to communicate through). When Solanke finished the brilliant pattern of play, it seemed Bournemouth were in the mood to take the game to Reading.
However not at one point from the goal did Bournemouth control and dominate the game. Looking comfortable in a back four, Reading attacked with intent and were unlucky not to finish good chances in the first half. The positions in the table did not reflect the contest with Reading showing they were here to compete for a result.
Going into half-time with the lead, Bournemouth needed a second. Thus why it is was baffling to see the attitude of the team as a whole in the period that followed half-time.
From the start of the half to the final whistle the home side simply allowed Reading to dominate possession. History will tell us that Bournemouth are not able to sustain long periods of pressure and this was once again the case. Question marks must be raised as to why the side allowed Reading to force the backline so consistently all the way through the half.
Granted it was an excellent finish from Tom Ince in which little could be done, but it was not undeserved. If that had not gone in, there is a feeling the goal would have come from elsewhere.
It is unknown the instructions in which Parker would have given to the squad during the interval but there has not been a half that negative this season. It was vital that Bournemouth attacked with a high intensity to get the second goal early and then kill the game. Reading took advantage of Bournemouth’s reluctance to do so and essentially came away from the trip south disappointed that they had only secured a point.
Speaking after the game, Parker told the media:
“We started the game well. A lovely goal but after that we did not assert ourselves and we didn’t look like the team I’d expect us to see today.
“At that point I thought it was the goal we needed to springboard and really go and put some dominance on the game. We just didn’t manage to do that, in fact it went the other way.
“Yeah that was a little bit puzzling.
“They deserved their goal because we weren’t where we needed to be. We looked flat for one reason or another and we’ll just have to look into that.
“We were sloppy in general in our all round game.”
On serving his one match suspension this evening, Parked added:
“It was frustrating. I did not enjoy one bit of it tonight really.
“Whether we would have won lost or draw, the experience was not good in that sense because obviously you’re not a part of it and you don’t feel like you can really influence it.”
The three home games in the past seven provided an excellent opportunity for the Cherries to really take hold of the second automatic promotion. With all three teams in the bottom four, it is not unfair that nine points would have been expected, yet they were only able to achieve five.
Bournemouth still hold a strong position in second with two games in hand on third placed Huddersfield who sit three points behind. It now feels that every game is a must win if they want to avoid the grudges of the play-offs. It is the Terriers they face next as they make the away trip this Saturday. It promises to be a very interesting game.