THE OLD poem says that Wednesday's child is full of woe. On the evidence of this richly-deserved Cherries win at Hillsborough, that comes as no surprise. (Sept 18)

A defeat that saw Owls boss Chris Turner sacked immediately after the match never reached the heights of last season's superb display. But when you come away with a vital three points that can only provide a real injection of confidence, who cares?

Wednesday, meanwhile, were truly woeful for a side that were competing in Europe not so long ago.

That, however, should take nothing away from Cherries who were by far the better side and set out on the long trek south with three points under their belt and protected their 100 per cent record over the Owls in league football.

Sean O'Driscoll's side defended well when they needed to and showed their attacking teeth in a fine first-half performance. While they created little in the second period, their work had already been done thanks to John Spicer's brilliantly-taken first league goal four minutes before the break.

The Arsenal man is clearly enjoying his loan spell at Dean Court and has a streak of class in him that sees him rarely give the ball away. He has also got the undeniable swagger of a player brought up on a Highbury footballing education.

Spicer timed his forward burst to perfection to beat the static Wednesday back four from Dani Rodrigues' intelligent through-ball. With just David Lucas to beat, the midfielder delayed his shot to dummy the keeper and lifted it high into the net with a quality finish.

It was no more than Cherries deserved after they showed real character to set about their once illustrious opponents from the first whistle.

But for an early scare inside the first 60 seconds, O'Driscoll's side enjoyed a bright opening as the fit-again Elliott illustrated just how much he had been missed over the past few games.

The skilful winger, whose broken toe was padded and protected, was involved in both of Cherries best chances in the first 40 minutes and looked a real threat every time he was on the ball.

Elliott provides something different for Sean O'Driscoll's attacking options and, as with any winger, he can be frustratingly anonymous on occasions if he doesn't get the service.

But when on his game, as he was at Hillsborough, the ex-Bashley man can be virtually unplayable and for the first half of this contest, his desire to run at the unfortunate Richard Wood gave the Wednesday left-back a harsh lesson.

It was Elliott's run and cross that picked out James Hayter after just seven minutes but his deft finish drifted just wide with the keeper well beaten.

The winger was at it again shortly afterwards as another raid saw him pick out Garreth O'Connor who fed Spicer with a lay-off, only for the Arsenal man to fire his effort narrowly over the bar.

But without turning their superiority into a goal, Cherries ensured the big crowd were still behind the home team as they began to enjoy their best spell of the game.

First Neil Moss was called into action to parry Lee Peacock's snapshot after Shaun Maher's slip.

And then Moss and Eddie Howe did a decent impression of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the communication stakes as their apparent silence in dealing with a hopeful long ball allowed MacLean to nip in and lob the keeper, only for the ball to clip the top of the bar and bounce to safety.

With the Owls sensing blood, it was all hands on deck for Cherries as some heroics from Karl Broadhurst, Howe and Maher made some last-ditch tackles.

Brian Stock - who produced one of his best performances for a long time - was also enjoying his new role as a holding midfielder in front of the back four and made some important interceptions to ensure Cherries weathered the storm.

After seeing off a difficult period, the visitors gained the ascendancy again as Elliott's superb control and turn from Stock's searching pass took him between two defenders to cut in and unleash a left-footed strike that crashed off the outside of the post with Lucas apparently thinking the shot was going well wide.

If that was unlucky, Cherries had to wait only a matter of seconds as Spicer's goal a minute later proved to be the eventual winner.

After the interval, O'Driscoll's side were waiting for a supposed onslaught from their hosts as they looked for a way back into the game. But while there were moments when Moss was required and the defenders needed their focus and discipline, they were never under real pressure until the final few moments.

Moss' only save of note was from Paul Smith's downward header five minutes after the restart as his sharp reflexes turned the effort past the post.

From there, the only excitement from the home fans was directed at the scoreboard as news of Sheffield United's battering at Wigan gave them at least something to cheer about.

Their team was comfortably kept at arm's length by a well-drilled Cherries side who were happy to stick with what they had, keep possession and play on the break.

As Wednesday ran out of ideas, the "Turner out" chants began to rumble round the home fans who must have been surprised by the swift response of the chairman to their demands.

Despite a frantic final few moments, which saw O'Connor force a good save from Lucas and the ice-cool Moss gather Jon-Paul McGovern's hopeful shot, it was all confusingly comfortable for Cherries.

While there is always a hint of regret when an opposing manager is dismissed, O'Driscoll will be understandably more concerned with his own tough task. If his men can produce controlled displays on this level in the coming weeks, the doom and gloom that some fans were feeling just a couple of weeks ago will have lifted considerably.