5:42pm Saturday 27th September 2008
By Neil Perrett
SUBSTITUTE Brett Pitman came off the bench to put the finishing touches to Cherries' first home league win of the season today.
The striker rounded off an entertaining affair when he netted deep into stoppage time to help Cherries record back-to-back victories.
Midfielder Marvin Bartley had put Cherries on course to land the spoils when he grabbed their opening goal after 15 minutes.
And after Liam Hatch's header had levelled for the Quakers in the 35th minute, Neil Austin's unfortunate own goal nudged Cherries back in front two minutes later.
Cherries boss Jimmy Quinn had the luxury of naming an unchanged starting line-up, with new loan signing Blair Sturrock having to settle for a place on the bench.
The Quakers made an enterprising start and Cherries goalkeeper Shwan Jalal was forced to tip David Poole's rasping effort over the crossbar after just three minutes.
An electrifying run from deep by Billy Clarke ended with the Darlo striker being stopped in his tracks by Jason Pearce's excellent block tackle.
Cherries opened the scoring when Bartley was on hand to register his first goal of the season from close range after 15 minutes.
The opportunity came after a mistake by Darlo defender Steve Foster had seen his misplaced pass find its way to Jeff Goulding.
And after Goulding had stepped inside and had a low drive parried by goalkeeper Simon Brown, Bartley followed up to roll the ball into an unguarded net.
As the visitors looked for a quick response, Hatch's glancing header from a cross by Franz Burgmeier flew just past the upright.
Sammy Igoe squandered a decent chance to double Cherries' lead when he missed his kick after getting on the end of Warren Cummings's 27th-minute cross.
Foster was then booked for going through the back of Igoe before Brown acrobatically saved Darren Anderton's 20-yard snapshot.
The Quakers levelled when Hatch's looping header dropped over the despairing dive of Jalal, the striker pouncing after Cherries had failed to clear a free kick.
But another error by the visitors presented Cherries with a chance to regain the lead, with defender Alan White's stray clearance cut out by Igoe near the halfway line.
However, there was more than a slice of good fortune about the goal with Igoe's resultant pass to Goulding diverted past his own goalkeeper by Darlo defender Neil Austin.
Poole thought he had equalised after he had skipped through and beaten Jalal on the stroke of half-time, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.
Goulding made way for Sturrock at the interval before Gregg Blundell replaced Poole as the visitors made a change just seven minutes into the second half.
Sturrock was soon in the thick of the action with Bartley the beneficiary of his neat layoff, although Brown was equal to the midfielder's thunderous low drive.
The Swindon loan man was denied a goal after being sent clear by Igoe 14 minutes from time and although his shot was turned around the post by Brown, the referee curiously opted to award a goal kick, much to the chagrin of the home crowd.
Tempers flared after Bartley had jumped into a challenge with Jason Kennedy, with players from both sides squaring up. And after calm had been restored, Jason Pearce became the fifth player of the match to receive a yellow card.
Pitman, on as an 82nd-minute replacement for Anderton, put the finishing touches to victory when he drilled home an unstoppable third goal deep into injury time.
Cherries (3-5-1-1): Jalal; Guyett, Cooper, Pearce; Bradbury, Bartley (McQuoid, 90), Anderton (Pitman, 82), Hollands, Cummings; Igoe; Goulding (Sturrock, h-t).
Unused subs: Ward, Pryce (g/k).
Booked: Cummings, Pearce, Pitman.
Darlington (4-4-2): Brown; Austin (Proudlock, 82), White, Foster, Purdie; Poole (Blundell, 52), Kennedy, Ravenhill, Burgmeier; Clark, Hatch.
Unused subs: Hulbert, Miller, Kazimierczak (g/k).
Booked: Foster, Austin, Purdie, Hatch.
Referee: Clive Penton (Sussex).
Attendance: 4,124 (inc 191 away supporters).
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