Grasscutter woe for Sean & Co

Performing on the newly-laid turf twice in the space of four days, Cherries have hosted entertaining 2-2 draws against two of the League One promotion favourites.

But despite the absorbing nature of both contests, pessimists among the Dean Court faithful might claim Cherries are suffering a hangover from the Party on the Pitch.

Only a dramatic late comeback spared O'Driscoll's side from defeat against Walsall thanks to a Wade Elliott-inspired display. The manager was not best pleased.

And only a last-gasp grasscutter of a goal prevented them from securing victory against Bristol City on Saturday. The manager, on this occasion, was "fuming".

As the final whistle sounded on a see-saw affair, emotions could not have been more diverse among the two set of supporters and players.

Cherries fans could only watch in anguish and frustration and ask how their heroes had managed to spurn all three points, while some players also looked shell-shocked.

City followers, meanwhile, rejoiced after Jamie Smith's scruffy stoppage-time equaliser had salvaged an unlikely share of the points.

A toothless Robins outfit had somehow managed to claw their way back twice in a game that should have been over before the half-time break. The fat lady had already encored.

City manager Brian Tinnion, who was disgracefully taunted as he tried to give his post-match press conference to reporters in front of the dugouts, was honest enough to admit his side had ridden their luck.

Tinnion said: "After our first-half performance, we were lucky to be 1-0 down. It was unacceptable. There was no passion, no desire, no will to get the second ball, to win the ball or to pass the ball. We just weren't at the races and I told them in no uncertain terms at half-time that I expect better.

"We didn't perform at all in the first half. I told the players at half-time that it wasn't good enough for this club, it wasn't good enough for me and it certainly wasn't good enough for them."

Leading 1-0 thanks to Carl Fletcher's 38th-minute header, rampant Cherries appeared to be coasting to their first victory of the season. Their first-half display had been truly magnificent.

And although Leroy Lita equalised against the run of play with 13 minutes remaining, justice seemed to be on the cards when James Hayter popped up to glance home an Elliott centre in the closing stages.

But as City piled forward in search of an equaliser, Smith somehow managed to find the back of the net with a goal described by one Cherries player as "the worst I have ever seen".

Tinnion almost agreed: "It hit his knee, his shin, his ankle and his toe and seemed to take four bobbles before it went in the far corner. But at that point, I didn't really care how it went in. It was pleasing to see it go in.

"It doesn't matter which team you play in this division, if you give them space and the ease to play how they did in the first half, they are going to hurt you and I hope we've learned from that."

O'Driscoll said he felt that Cherries "should have had eight" and that the game "should have been over at half-time".

He added: "But it wasn't, and, at 1-0, they've always got a chance. They had one chance and got back in the game. We did enough to win it - but we didn't."

Cherries made a rip-roaring start and went close to taking the lead inside the opening two minutes.

Neil Young, sent scampering down the right by Fletcher's intelligent pass, despatched a cross that caused City all sorts of problems after it had been headed back into the danger zone by Derek Holmes.

But as the ball fizzed around in the six-yard box, neither Marcus Browning nor Hayter could make contact before it found its way back to Holmes who side-footed wide from the angle.

City defender Smith then fly-kicked an Elliott cross narrowly wide of his own goal before Scott Murray ran from deep inside his own half before lifting a right-foot drive high into the North Stand.

Eddie Howe rose majestically at the far post to meet Warren Cummings's cross following a short corner with Brian Stock, but City goalkeeper Steve Phillips was on hand to push his header over the crossbar.

Phillips also pushed Browning's looping header over the woodwork following another Stock corner before the City goalkeeper pawed a speculative long-range effort from Cummings around his left-hand post.

Murray collected the first booking after he had hauled down Cummings as he embarked on one of his trademark runs down the left, the resultant free kick punched clear by Phillips from a posse of Cherries players.

Cherries were thankful to the bravery and heroics of Karl Broadhurst after Howe had misjudged a through ball from Murray to Lita.

The City striker rolled the ball into the path of his team-mate Paul Heffernan, but as he was about to pull the trigger, Broadhurst launched himself full-length to put in a crucial saving tackle.

Cherries deservedly took the lead when Fletcher rose to meet Stock's corner - their eighth of the first half - and saw his header deceive Phillips before trickling over the line.

City tried to hit back almost immediately when a fierce 25-yard drive from Bradley Orr was tipped over the crossbar by Neil Moss.

Fletcher was unlucky to see his rising drive just clear the crossbar at the start of the second half, the chance created after Cummings and Stock had worked a short free kick to their skipper.

Doherty, who had conceded the free kick and also earned a caution for his continued petulance, then sent an effort curling over Moss's crossbar after Howe had been penalised for fouling Lita.

Hayter went close to registering an early goal-of-the-season contender when his stunning first-time volley from an Elliott centre flew inches past the base of Phillips' right-hand post.

City drew level when Lita fired the equaliser into the roof of the net, the striker profiting and finishing well after the ball had appeared to skid away from Young.

Despite the cruel setback, Cherries kept up the momentum and Fletcher was unlucky to see his goal-bound shot strike Hayter as the hosts went in search of regaining the lead.

And when Hayter glanced home Elliott's cross with fewer than three minutes remaining, the result never seemed in any doubt. "We went to sleep at a corner," said Tinnion. "Tom Doherty put the ball straight into their goalkeeper's hands, they broke and scored. It shouldn't happen."

But there was a nasty sting in the tail for Cherries when Smith, a summer recruit from Crystal Palace, netted with a left-foot stab from the edge of the box, his effort dribbling in off the post.