Cherries seal their top-flight place

London – Bournemouth beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 on Tuesday to earn automatic promotion to the Premier League after two seasons in the second-tier Championship.

Substitute Kieffer Moore scored the only goal of the game in the 83rd minute as Scott Parker’s side joined champions Fulham in the English top-flight next season.

It was only the Wales international’s third goal of an injury-ravaged Bournemouth career since his January transfer from Cardiff.

“First and foremost I’m delighted for the fans, and my players,” Parker (right) told Sky Sports. “They deserve this position. It means a lot.

“We never had control in the first-half and we didn’t want a basketball match. We spoke about control and calm and process. We didn’t execute the game plan and in the second-half we showed our dominance.”

“This group is a young team, learning their trade in a promotion task,” added Parker, who was relegated from the Premier League last season as Fulham boss.

“One thing about this group, if we need a result we dig deep and find it.”

Forest, who needed a win to leapfrog the Cherries in the table, will now have to try to end their 23-year Premier League exile via the play-offs.

Third-placed Forest and Huddersfield are guaranteed places in the play-offs.

A whole clutch of other clubs are still chasing the final two play-off places and a shot at a Premier League spot. –