It wasn’t a very good game set before the Boxing Day audience at Bournemouth’s tidy little Dean Court ground. Two hard-working sides, both lacking a cutting edge, expended every effort to close each other down. Neither keeper was overstretched and by the end both teams looked to have settled for a point apiece.
Palace’s team sheet was of greater than usual interest. The rumoured unavailability of both Wickham & Bolasie was confirmed by their absence. Perhaps a chance for Bamford and late-winner-hero Lee Chung-yong? Neither of these even made the bench, where we had plenty of defensive cover in Hangeland & Kelly and the first appearance of young Dymond. Into the team came the forgotten & much derided Campbell up front, and Mutch slipped into the support striker role, with Puncheon moving back to the left wing. Cabaye was fit enough to fill a substitute’s shirt. In the warm-up the pitch looked to cut up where Palace were making their shuttle-runs, but this never really became a factor. What did was the windy conditions, not as bad as at the Britannia, but in the first half Wayne’s kicks were arriving at Boruc’s end only bouncing once, while in the second half several held up into the wind.
Palace started well and forced an early corner, which Dann headed over. Campbell, working hard, then had a deflected shot that looped over Boruc & landed on the roof of the net. From the ensuing corner Dann or Delaney forced the ball towards goal where it looked like Boruc brought off a good save. All of Palace’s attacking players were closing Bournemouth down, noticeably so at goal kicks where they prevented the quick release of ball to the full backs. The Cherries first chance came when an Arter shot from the edge of the box was saved easily by Hennessey, but an immediate Palace riposte saw Delaney of all people steam down the left wing, and he set up Campbell for a curling effort that was not far off target.
Palace looked the better team at that stage, but Bournemouth started to apply their own pressure, with their wingers & full backs regularly stretching our defence. On one occasion Stanislas cruised past Ward and his cross really should have led to a goal but Ritchie headed wide with Hennessey helpless. The match started to get a little tasty after this, at first helped by old Palace hero FFS Murray (good to see him acknowledge the reception from Palace fans both before the kick-off & when he was substituted). Not quite sure when Glenn regressed back to being a diving cheating **** (obviously he never was while at Selhurst!) but there was one proficient fall in the box that annoyed Damien, and a couple if the second half that didn’t even impress referee Oliver. Then Arter, who had already been pulled up for tugging on Zaha’s shirt, dived in on Wilf from some distance. Partially unsighted I couldn’t tell if it was one- or two-footed or studs-up but it was an ugly challenge that saw Wilf bounce straight back up in a foul mood. Oliver took an age to decide that it warranted only a yellow – it looked borderline red to me – and that woke up both sets of supporters. The final act of the half was a flicked header from Mutch that went just over.
That was Jordon’s last act of the game as he was replaced at the interval by Cabaye. Arter too was withdrawn by Howe, in this case to avoid what looked like a sending-off waiting to happen. Palace still found it difficult to get going up front: Puncheon was having a decent match but didn’t look likely to beat right back Smith; Zaha was too intent on humiliating his full back through skill rather than pace, and although there were some nice touches, in the end the lack of return against left-back Daniels saw him switch to the left wing. Campbell simply ran so hard he ran out of energy. Cabaye dropped deeper to pick up the ball from the central defenders, with Ledley & McArthur moving a little further up the pitch.
The second half didn’t stretch as much as most games do – is the pitch a little smaller than usual? Palace started with some dozy defending, allowing Gosling (or was it O’Kane?) to advance under no pressure and his shot was on target but tipped over easily by Hennessey. That was about the only really decent chance either side had. Murray’s lack of pace meant he was never free of Delaney’s presence, and Palace’s full backs were better defensively that they had been in the first half. Midfield became a series of blocks & challenges, neither side gaining control. If the Cherries had more of the ball and territory, Palace also had spells of pressure where if you wished hard enough a chance might come. I can’t remember Hennessey having much to do, but also the only time Boruc was worried was when a dangerous cross from Souaré wasn’t finished by Chamakh. Marouane had come on for the knackered Campbell and Jedinak for the equally tired Ledley, but Chamakh looks to have lost what little pace he had, and our best efforts came down the flanks where Puncheon looked more dangerous than Zaha.
Towards the end, with all Palace subs deployed, both Delaney & Dann required on-field treatment and we did wonder if we would have to survive short-handed, but both rose to their feet and carried on, although whether both will be fit for Monday’s game is a valid question. Fortunately Bournemouth looked happy to settle for a point, so the game meandered ton a quiet close.
Hennessey – 6 – Not really under much pressure, I can only recall one even moderately difficult save. Had a couple of dodgy moments, having a kick charged down by the lightning-fast Murray, and then completely losing a cross ion the second half but somehow finding the ball bouncing into his hands.
Ward – 6 – Had trouble with Stanislas, on one occasion giving the winger a free run outside him – luckily Ritchie’s header was off-target. Improved in the second half and linked well with Puncheon on the attack late on.
Souaré – 6 – Was turned defensively once in the first half, and had a couple of dodgy moments in the second. Going forward he put in some good runs and good crosses.
Delaney – 8 – Strong performance at the back by Delaney, although if you asked him to hand-pick the type of striker he’d like to mark, Murray’s name would be near the top of that list. His unexpected burst down the left wing saw rapid improvisation in the stands and a new reworking of the “Heartbeat” number! Did look like injury had forced him off at the end but he carried on after treatment.
Dann – 7 – Two unexpected dodgy moments: a bad back pass that put Hennessey under pressure; and some out-of-character “clever” play at the back bailed out by Delaney’s interception. Apart from that had a good display, organising the defence, and had a couple of moments when threatened their goal from set pieces.
Ledley – 6 – Mostly solid in the middle, a couple of clever back-heels that didn’t come off apart, but looked short not only of pace but stamina by the end.
McArthur – 6 – Usual industrious display but didn’t push forward as often as he did against Stoke. One remarkable clearing header under no pressure that sailed across our box, fortunately the attacker was too stunned to take advantage of his good fortune.
Puncheon – 7 – Typical for Jason his display was a mixture of some good touches, the odd clever pass, and some ropy defensive duties. Looked the player most likely to break the deadlock in our favour.
Zaha – 6 – Flattered to deceive early on – why doesn’t he try to beat full backs through pace anymore? Victim of nasty-looking challenge from Arter, he failed to get the better of left back Daniels and switched to the left wing during the second half. Good moments but no real end product. Did work hard defensively though.
Mutch – 5 – Started well and had a couple of half-chances but soon drifted out of the game. Did work hard like the others. Still thought he was a little unlucky not to get more than 45 minutes.
Campbell – 6 – Worked very hard and in the first half had one shot that on a better day would have been deflected over the keeper but under the bar. Best chance came when he set himself to curl one into the top corner but was off-target. Second half he never quite had a clear chance on goal and gradually ran himself into the ground.
Cabaye – 6 – Replaced Mutch at half-time and started strongly but soon faded a little.
Chamakh – 5 – Looked to have lost some more speed since Stoke, he was easily policed by the Bournemouth defenders.
Jedinak – 6 – Replaced the tiring Ledley and did a reasonable defensive job.