DAZ: MUST DO BETTER

7:00am Monday 11th August 2008

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By Neil Perrett »

SKIPPER Darren Anderton saw Cherries' opening-day jinx strike again and then insisted: "We must do better."

Anderton was one of the few shining lights as Cherries began life in League Two with a fortuitous 1-1 draw against Gillingham on Saturday.

He capped an excellent individual display by firing Cherries into a first-half lead before the Gills levelled through substitute Gary Mulligan in the dying seconds.

Although Mulligan's dramatic late equaliser denied Cherries a first-day victory for a ninth year in succession, it was no more than the visitors had deserved.

Anderton told the Daily Echo: "It was unfortunate we didn't get the right result, but we know we can play a lot better.

"It was a tough game, blood and thunder at times, and it felt like a defeat for us because we gave away a goal so late in the day.

"We are all very disappointed but we need to play better, it's as simple as that. We're a footballing side and we need to play better football.

"It was a real battle and although we know we're probably going to have a lot of games like that, we've got the players who can cope with it.

"With a little bit of luck, we would have come away with a clean sheet. But we didn't create as much as we know we can so we'll be working on that."

Gillingham could have been out of sight had it not been for some woeful finishing from striker Simeon Jackson and an inspired display from Cherries' new loan signing Shwan Jalal.

Jackson missed a gilt-edged opportunity midway through the first half, while goalkeeper Jalal pulled off a series of fine saves to keep the Gills at bay.

Cherries boss Kevin Bond said: "It's always disappointing when you concede so late in the game but we'd had a few scares before that.

"I thought our goalkeeper played very well and kept us in the game. He made three or four good saves and I thought we were fortunate to come in leading 1-0 at half-time.

"But you need to show that resilience, which I thought we did for periods in the second half. Although we had one or two decent attacks, we didn't play well and there was never any sustained pressure. We almost rode our luck but, on the balance of play, didn't deserve to so I can't complain."

Bond added: "It's going to be difficult for us. Nobody has a right to win games and teams aren't going to lie down. We are going to have to work for everything we get.

"I know people were saying we only had to win our first six games to erase the points deficit, but it doesn't just happen like that."

Meanwhile, Bond completed the signing of Carl Pettefer ahead of kick-off on a short-term contract. The Wimborne-based midfielder was an unused substitute.