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The adage ‘he who laughs last, laughs loudest’ was never more true than at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on Monday night.
Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke was far from the only Cherries player to have had a poor first 40 minutes.
His woefully misplaced passes had been matched by similar from Junior Stanislas with others contributing poor ball control. Even in that period, the visitors never actually struggled with anything Queens Park Rangers threw at them with the composed Chris Mepham and Jefferson Lerma among those comfortably containing QPR’s offence.
The home fans’ first and loudest, if not last laugh, came on the half-hour mark when Solanke headed a Philip Billing cross over with the goal at his mercy.
The chants of “Chelsea Reject” did not end there but were taken up with a heavy dose of south coast sarcasm by the traveling fans.
The ball hadn’t even landed before the home fans pointed out he was a “Chelsea Reject”, having begun his career in the under-8 side of QPR’s local rivals Chelsea in 2004 as well as winning the FA Youth Cup in 2014. Three years later, he left for Liverpool for whom he played 21 games, showing QPR fans have a good grasp on their local football knowledge.
In the 34th minute, Solanke was again the butt of the jibes when he tripped over his own feet and was almost too ashamed to claim a free-kick, as referee Keith Stroud was having none of it. In fact ignoring spurious penalty claims was a theme of his day.
Three minutes later, Stanislas lost the ball by passing it straight out of play with Jordan Zemura hogging the left byline, the Cherries’ overall touch had been poor. It had in fact taken just two minutes for Stanislas, an ex-England under-21 international, to overhit a pass to a fast-running Solanke down the left. This was a great relief for the QPR defenders scuttling back after their own attack broke down, again, after a misplaced pass.
However, Solanke and the 2,684 noisy contingent from Dorset were about to reject the ‘rejection’.
Bournemouth won a highly disputed free-kick out on their left after Sam Field flattened Lerma. Stanislas whipped in a more than decent delivery, Solanke had his back to goal but rose like a salmon to redirect the ball over his own shoulder into the net.
It was in truth a better moment than the match had deserved but it was enough to secure the visitors all three points and a place at the top of the Championship.
The chants of “Chelsea Reject” did not end there but were taken up with a heavy dose of south coast sarcasm by the traveling fans.
By the time they scored, Bournemouth were already in the ascendancy. After the interval, that is where they firmly remained.
Hoops goalkeeper Seny Dieng was called into action on several occasions while the Cherries substitute Jaidon Anthony missed a 63rd minute open goal after the ball bounced a little higher than he expected when it reached him.
Only when QPR manager Mark Warburton introduced Andre Gray and Albert Adomah for Osman Kakay and Lee Wallace with 20 minutes to play, did the balance of power begin to shift back. Bournemouth shot-stopper Mark Travers had to catch a deflected shot but it was still Dieng working harder, parrying a long range effort from Ryan Christie at full stretch.
The final 10 minutes were a less edifying advert for the game.
QPR’s attempts to win a penalty were far-fetched with captain Stefan Johansen headlining the show with a full length dive.
The game maybe did not deserve a peach of a goal like Solanke’s but it deserved better than the late churlish displays of gamesmanship.
Not that the Cherries were innocent, however, after winning a goal kick, three of their players individually decided to floor themselves in the penalty area to soak up time. The visiting physio wisely picked the most convincingly injured and the other two had to shamefacedly pick themselves up.
In injury time, an artificially created scuffle broke out after Solanke hit the deck. Cherries players artfully used it to wind down the clock when they all ran over to get involed in what initially was just a defender yelling at the forward to get up. They also cleverly nicked the ball relocating it to the safety of their own goalkeeper to delay the restart.
On his assistant’s advice, Stroud booked QPR’s Yoann Barbet and Solanke whilst showing a second yellow to Hoops midfielder Andre Dozzell. Lerma still had time to hurl himself to the floor after but it was unnecessary as the hosts had never really looked like scoring. The visitors had the better players up front and their excellent defence never seemed to buckle.
The closing moments were not a great reflection on either club. QPR’s late frantic attempts to win a penalty did them no credit and neither did Bournemouth’s somewhat cynical time wasting tactics. The game maybe did not deserve a peach of a goal like Solanke’s but it deserved better than the late churlish displays of gamesmanship.
Bournemouth deservedly reclaimed their place at the top of the Championship, and the future looks bright for the Cherries.
They have Cardiff City and Peterborough United at home next and must be fairly confident of six points given the league positioning of the two opponents. In fact, their next five opponents are all currently in the bottom half with Luton Town, Hull City and Barnsley to follow.
QPR face tricky trips to Bristol City and Birmingham City next before meeting top half clubs West Brom and Coventry City. It is hard to see them closing that 11-point gap on the Cherries in that period.
However, a play-off spot is still well within their grasp as they are just one point off Huddersfield Town and Middlesbrough with two games in hand.
No-one should be rejecting their play-off hopes just yet.
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