Bournemouth FC manager, Phill Brown, has stated his team “must kick on now” following their comeback home win against Brockenhurst in the Wessex League.
Before the game, Poppies were winless in their last six Wessex League games, and had only claimed five of the 30 points available in their last ten matches.
The drop in form came as a shock for some supporters, who were accustomed to seeing positive results both home and away.
Poppies 2-1 Brockenhurst, Saturday 11 January 2025
Brown’s team found themselves a goal down inside ten minutes when Jack Torniainen scored magnificently, direct from a corner.
However, following that slow start, Bournemouth then put their stamp on proceedings when Harry Smith bundled the ball into the net to equalise.
The goal was assisted by James Stocker who, only minutes prior, swapped with Smith onto the right flank, with the latter moving up front.
Brown said, “We didn’t play very well first 25 minutes of the first half, I thought it was going to be a long day.
“We tweaked a couple of things, moved James [Stocker] to the right hand side, after that I think we deserved to go in level at the break.”
Following the half-time interval, Bournemouth clearly set up to hit their opposition on the break.
The introduction of Connor LeClerq on the left brought pace and skill, as he was at the forefront of much of the Poppies’ threat.
LeClerq replaced debutant Jamie Hosking, who Brown thought was unfortunate during his first appearance.
On Hosking, Brown said, “I felt a little sorry for him to be honest, as I think he got nailed in the first two or three minutes and had a dead leg, I think that took him out the game.”
The tactical changes proved decisive as a fast break involved another substitute, Ewang Derick, who provided a fantastic cross which was headed in by Stocker to complete the comeback.
However, manager Brown does not see anything as settled in the league, and hopes his squad will now kick on.
He said, “I wrote all of the next ten games down and told the boys, ‘This is our next ten. Out of thirty, how many points do you want to get?’, they’ve set themselves a target.”
Next up in the Wessex League
Next up for Poppies is a trip to Wincanton Town, who they put seven goals past earlier on this season.
The squad will look to build their form again to how it was before the recent slump, which saw Poppies as high as fifth place in the league.
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