Moore puts Cherries in the promised land
IT WAS a game crying out for a moment of genius, something a little off the cuff. Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest had been inseparable for 83 minutes, the occasion tense, the contest tight.
It was then that Jordan Zemura was tripped by Scott McKenna on the edge of the Forest penalty box. Ryan Christie made his bid, then stepped away from the ball. That left Philip Billing over it and the Vitality Stadium awaited a whipped shot. Nope.
In one of the most lucrative training ground moves of all time, Billing passed to Kieffer Moore, whose strike put Bournemouth in the Premier League.
A few nail-biting minutes later and they were there. home and dry in the second automatic promotion place, heading up with Fulham, the breathless pursuit of Forest and others finally stilled.
The stands emptied, the pitch suddenly a sea of red and black. The Cherries were back in the big time after two seasons away, taken there by Scott Parker’s second Championship promotion in three seasons. ‘We put in lots of detail but it was off the cuff, it was players using their initiative,’ Parker said of the goal.
‘Everyone associated with the club deserves this moment. I am immensely proud, it has been one million per cent tough.
‘This group is a young team, learning their trade in a promotion task. One thing about this group, if we need a result we dig deep and find it.’
Moore’s journeyman c.v. includes Truro, Dorchester and Viking Stavanger. Now a Wales international, he has proved a handy supersub for Parker, scoring twice in the 3-3 draw at Swansea last week that kept them in front of Forest — and now this.
‘I’ve dreamed of this moment as a kid and thankfully I get to live it,’ Moore said. ‘We locked eyes and just saw the space. Thankfully Phil played me the ball and the rest is history.’
Forest will have to go into the play-offs and their unbelievable transformation under Steve Cooper may yet be completed.
Cooper vowed to lift his team from this disappointment and fans were already singing ‘we’re going to Wembley’ as they watched Bournemouth celebrate.
‘Deep down, you know when you’ve done all right,’ said Cooper. ‘It’s a disappointment but whether we like it or not we have to get on with it. We will take heart and a lot of pride. We’ll be ready.’
There was a cup final feel to the occasion with so much at stake and a boisterous atmosphere that transmitted into a full-blooded opening that then faded.
Bournemouth had the game’s first chance, a cross-cum-shot by Billing that Forest goalkeeper Brice Samba touched away.
Cherries old boy Sam Surridge came even closer on nine minutes. Djed Spence strode forward and slotted a perfect through ball. Surridge only had Mark Travers to beat but his shot crashed back off the crossbar.
Forest were the better side before half-time, Brennan Johnson seeing an effort cleared in front of the line by Zemura.
But Bournemouth surged back after the break, Dominic Solanke firing into the side-netting after Ryan Christie’s through ball. Samba also swatted away a Jaidon Anthony effort. When Jefferson Lerma pulled a muscle, Parker harnessed the momentum by bringing on Moore, a forward for a midfielder.
The Welshman fractured his foot almost immediately after arriving at the club from Cardiff in January. But after that agony, it was Moore’s moment of magic that put Bournemouth in the premier class again.
• BOURNEMOUTH and Wales winger David Brooks, 24, is cancer free, seven months after being diagnosed with stage two hodgkin lymphoma.
‘Delighted to say the treatment was successful and I am now cancer free,’ he said. ‘Those words feel incredible to say and I am so thankful for all your messages and good wishes, these really helped me through tough times.’