AFC BOURNEMOUTH VS BRISTOL CITY

On the day that Matt Tubbs joined Rotherham United on a six month loan deal AFC Bournemouth finished their pre-season with a bore draw against Bristol City.

Former Cherries manager Sean O Driscoll brought his League One side to the Goldsands in good form after a victory against Reading FC.

Coulibaly warming up

AFCB were again without strikers Brett Pitman and Lewis Grabban and in truth failed to look like a real threat in the final third.

City started brightly and came close in the first minute when Bobby Reid’s free kick flew only inches wide.

The Cherries were boosted by the return of central midfielder Eunan o’ Kane and goalkeeper Ryan Allsop.

New signing Mohamed Coulibaly came closest to opening the scoring when he forced a good save from City keeper Frank Fielding.

AFCB line up in black

Coulibaly was arguably the best player for the Cherries, a skilful first touch and a great turn of speed make him an exciting prospect for the new season.

Former Saints defender Danny Butterfield who is currently at Dean Court on trial, lined up for the Cherries at right back and had a solid game.

The second half continued in the same vain as the first with chances being few and far between.

AFCB on the attack

Second half substitutes Ryan Fraser and Simon Francis linked up well down the right and Fraser came closest for the Cherries forcing Fielding into a good save.

Wes Thomas who played as a lone striker spent most of the match isolated and frustrated, it will certainly be worrying a number of Cherries fans the lack of striking options that we seem to have.

We can now only hope that letting Matt Tubbs go out on loan means that Eddie Howe has a new signing lined up.

The scoreboard can't hide the truth

It is fair to say without Pitman and Grabban we look short up front, but saying that Coulibaly certainly looks like he could do the business up top and he is certainly not shy of having a shot.

Keep up to date with all AFC Bournemouth transfer news follow us on twitter @essentcherries

Final Score: Cherries 0-0 Bristol City

Attendance: 1760

AFC BOURNEMOUTH VS PORTSMOUTH FC

Cherries came through a tough friendly with Pompey to earn their first home victory of pre-season.

Two days after the epic encounter with Real Madrid, the squad faced a back to reality match against our south coast neighbours.

The Cherries made a couple of changes from Sunday most notable was the return of Marc Pugh, who has been absent for the previous warm up matches.

Richard Hughes talks to Guy Whittingham

Portsmouth, who find themselves in League 2 this season, fielded a strong team that featured new signings Joe Devera, Ricky Holmes and Patrick Agyemang.

The first half hour was a tight affair with Bournemouth having the better of the possession.

The deadlock was broken by a wonder strike from 25 yards out by Bournemouth new boy Mohamed Coulibaly.

Coulibaly who was arguably the best player for the Cherries against Madrid, was showing his class again and with his skill and pace could certainly be a key player for us in the Championship.

Ryan Fraser was replaced early in the half after picking up a knock and is another injury concern for Eddie Howe.

The teams shake hands

His replacement Sam Matthews looked at home in the centre of the Cherries midfield and had a good game.

The second half saw Howe make a number of changes that included the introduction of trialists Danny Butterfield and Charlie Losasso, who both did well.

Portsmouth equalised through a 20 yard strike from Andy Barcham that gave Jalal absolutely no chance.

The Cherries regained control of the game and came close to scoring again when Jayden Stockley hit the post with a header.

The winner eventually came in the last ten minutes when Harry Cornick’s shot was deflected past the Pompey keeper.

Portsmouth look to have assembled a decent squad and it’s understandable that they are favourites for the League 2 title this season; they will also be a tough opponent in the Capital One cup next month.

The mangement teams discuss tactics

The attendance was not surprisingly a little disappointing after the Madrid game with just over 1800 fans in the Goldsands, which included 300 conga dancing Pompey supporters.

AFCB face former manager Sean O’Driscoll’s Bristol City, at Dean Court on Saturday which is the final home warm up game before the season starts.

 Final Score: Cherries 2-1 Pompey

Attendance 1806

AFC BOURNEMOUTH VS REAL MADRID

The day after the night before and it is still hard to believe what we witnessed at Dean Court last night.

AFC Bournemouth took on the might of Real Madrid and for a while held their own against the Galacticos.

The Cherries lined up against a strong Real Madrid team that included Cristano Ronaldo, Ozil and Modric.

 

Real Madrid warming up!

Teams line up

For forty minutes the reds passed the ball well, closed down Madrid and looked to compete with the La liga superstars.

A super Ronaldo free kick opened the scoring on 22 minutes and it was met with applause from around the ground.

Unfortunately Brett Pitman picked up a knock after 27 minutes and was replaced by defender Elliot Ward.

In truth after Pitman came off we struggled to look like a threat going forward, but it is hard to judge our players on this because of the strength of opposition.

A mistake by Elphick let in Ronaldo who calmly scored his second, a corner a minute later led to Khaderia tapping in a third.

A full team change for Madrid at half time saw the likes of Di Maria, Higuain and Kaka enter the fray.

New South Stand

Higuain sprang the offside trap and scored a forth shortly after the break, which was then added to by a good solo goal by Di Maria.

Then arguably the pick of the goals was scored by Casemiro after a fantastic display of one touch pass and move by Madrid.

Eddie Howe made a succession of changes in the second half giving the full squad a run out.

The boys definitely gave it their all and looked good during the game, I was particularly impressed with Mohamed Coulibaly who will be sure to frighten defenders in the championship.

With the Madrid game now over its time to concentrate on the build up to August 3^rd and three points against Charlton.

AFC Bournemouth take on Portsmouth tomorrow night, let’s hope that the attendance is high and we continue to get behind the team. Come on you Cherries.

Final score: Cherries 0-6 Real Madrid

Attendance 11,772

Pray For The South Stand

The second batch of tickets for the Real Madrid friendly was snapped up by eager fans in a few hours yesterday.

The temporary seats have started to go into the south stand and the club have told the world that they anticipate the stand will be ready for the big match on Sunday.

Fans who bought tickets yesterday where handed a piece of paper telling them that if the stand does not get the relevant safety certificate then they should not travel to the game on Sunday and will get a refund on Monday.

Let’s all pray for the south stand and hope that we make the news for the right reason on Sunday evening.

Capital one cup tickets are now on sale and they are offering a limited amount of tickets on a buy one get one free basis.

If you quote the code that can be found in the local press then you can snap up to tickets for £12, a bargain price to watch the mighty Cherries.

AFC Bournemouth have a couple of friendlies before the Madrid game, they visit Poole Town tomorrow night (18/07/13) and Woking on Saturday afternoon.

Final bit of news for this week is the change of crest, the timing of this change is definitely questionable.

Coming a few weeks after the club launched three new kits for the next couple of seasons.

I do like the crest though and haven’t heard too many grumbles about it.

Let us know if you want to write an article for Essential Cherries, we really want to hear your views on life at Dean Court.