Cherries took the lead early on through the first-half from a deflected Marcus Tavernier strike, the effort enough to separate the two sides at the final whistle 1-0. Che Adams thought he had rescued a precious point for the division’s bottom outfit late on, only for the equaliser to be chalked off by VAR for offside. Whilst overall he was pleased with his side’s performance, O’Neil did reiterate that his side need to be more clinical to finish contests off sooner.
Gary O’Neil said: “Big win for us. Performance was pleasing as well. Sort of had everything we asked, apart from being clinical enough to put the game to bed. Because I thought we were by far the better side today. We spoke a lot this afternoon about showing a calmness in what would be probably a frantic football match, where obviously the other side are in a tough situation and there may be some desperation attached. So, firstly, can we show a calmness in what is a big pressure situation? And then beneath that, can we show a real grit and steel, and a refusal to leave here without what we came for? And I thought the performance showed both. Credit to the players, I thought they were excellent.”
Cherries recorded 16 shots and enjoyed consistent spells with the ball, but were unable to truly test Alex McCarthy beyond Tavernier’s winner.
Gary O’Neil said: “Away from home, I thought it was impressive with the ball. I thought we played through our shape, lovely. The things that we thought would be on were on. It’s been a bit of a story recently where we haven’t quite been clinical enough, so I think back to Brighton at home where we missed some big chances. So, yeah, it was a good performance, but the good news is that there is still room for improvement. Definitely.”
