AFC Bournemouth welcomed Boreham Wood, the lowest-ranked remaining side in the competition on Sunday night to Dean Court for the fourth round of the FA Cup.
A quirk of being a television selection meant that the FA Cup fifth-round draw had already been made prior to kick-off, with both teams knowing that a trip to Goodison Park to face Premier League side Everton was at stake.
AFC Bournemouth Scott Parker was keen to bed in as many of his new signings as possible, so whilst Dembele was cup-tied and Moore was unavailable, there were starts for Freddie Woodman in goal and James Hill alongside Nat Phillips as the centre-back pairing.
Parker took the opportunity to rest his entire first-team first-choice options, with the exception of youngster Jaidon Anthony. This saw an array of talent sat on the bench, including Ryan Christie, Philip Billing, new signing Todd Cantwell and Dominic Solanke.
In the end, the magic of the FA Cup was alive and well on the south coast and despite Parker calling upon all his big hitters, the Cherries crashed out to a side that sit around 70 places below them in the Football League pyramid.
After the game, Parker told the Daily Echo…
“…We all know the magic of the FA Cup and what that brings.
“But I don’t want to be sitting here on the end of that. That’s the cold, hard facts.
“I don’t want to be on the end of a giant-killing, as magic as it is.
“I wanted to be here tonight and put a performance in and win the game. We’ve not managed to do that.
“Sometimes you have to take your medicine. Tonight we have to take our medicine and I have to take mine…”
Man of the match against Boreham Wood
Davis
Woodman
Anthony
Christie
Cantwell
Someone else
No one
♥ "We've got big hearts, and a big following now"
What a night for Mark Ricketts and player of the match Will Evans 🙌
🏆 @EmiratesFACup | #ITVFootball pic.twitter.com/uCoLZHi6ho
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) February 6, 2022
Written by billythekid
Well, all you can say is well done Boreham Wood you got your goal and you held out under second-half pressure and still remain unbeaten since October.
Good luck against Everton.
We looked like a disjointed team in the first half with some players never played together before and it showed.
The subs made a big difference and I liked the look of Cantwell, put some nice lobbed passes into the box. – Join the conversation, click here.
"Next stop – Goodison Park!" 💪
Another incredible chapter is written in the story of this wonderful tournament! 🤩
🏆 @EmiratesFACup | #ITVFootball pic.twitter.com/MlNgsvRacn
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) February 6, 2022
Your say…
dragonm8 wrote…
Marcondes scored 3 against Yeovil, and in the first 10 minutes was often our deepest covering midfielder, in front of the back 4.
That’s when I knew my bet was wasted.
So, ahead of him, was the attacking threat of Lewis Cook and Ben Pearson.
We don’t have enough attacking central midfielders whatsoever, so now we are relying on Cantwell (who offered a glimmer of hope) to put our season back on track.
Even Christie was played out wide.
If you arent going to put the ball in the box from wide areas, which we don’t, then what’s the point of advanced wide players, and overlapping full-backs?
Cantwell, unfortunately for him, will have a big bearing on our future this season. – Join the conversation, click here.
