Steve is rare shooting star

And at a time when a Cherries victory at Wrexham must have seemed as far away as Mars, Steve Purches's goal almost brought about an eclipse over North Wales.

Even Patrick Moore would have struggled to predict an away win, particularly as the Dragons had last tasted defeat at the Racecourse on New Year's Day.

But despite chalking up just one victory in 12 previous visits since 1973, Sean O'Driscoll's troops proved that lightning can strike twice in the same place.

While defeat must have come as a major shock to the majority of home supporters, programme contributor Anorak Man was forced to feast heartily on his words.

He wrote: "Thanks to last season's results, we are presently on a run of 18 unbeaten league games, again with the promise of more to follow."

Although Denis Smith's boys failed to deliver on Anorak Man's promise, the Dragons boss himself was somewhat less presumptuous in his column.

He wrote: "We have had a number of very exciting matches against Sean O'Driscoll's men recently, well, here at our place anyway, and I was pleased that they won through the play-offs to join us in the second division.

"It was no more than they deserved for their performances last season and they are a team I like because they play the game in exactly the right manner."

Smith's comments were echoed by Wrexham midfielder and captain Darren Ferguson: "I have to say I was happy to see them win through the play-offs and gain promotion because, in my book, we were the best two teams in the third division last season."

Steve Fletcher was the only survivor in the Cherries starting line-up from the visitors' last triumph in North Wales when his goal had earned Mel Machin's men a 1-0 victory in December 1998.

And of the current squad, only Fletcher, Neil Young - who started in 1998 but was on the bench on Saturday - and Marcus Browning were alive when Phil Boyer bagged the only goal of the game to earn Cherries the points 30 years ago.

Young returned to the Cherries squad for the first time this season just a day short of his 30th birthday, while Warren Cummings was restored to the starting line-up after recovering from an ankle injury, the Scotsman coming in for Wade Elliott who dropped down to the bench.

Wrexham hardly got a kick in the early stages as Cherries imposed their free-flowing, passing game on their hosts from the first whistle.

Dragons goalkeeper Andy Dibble was quickly off his line to clear a Shaun Pejic backpass as Warren Feeney threatened to close him down.

And from the resultant throw-in, Cherries took the lead when Steve Fletcher headed Garreth O'Connor's deep cross into the path of Purches who found the bottom corner of Dibble's net with a well-placed right-foot effort from just inside the box.

Wrexham tried to hit back instantly, but big Dennis Lawrence's glancing header from a Ferguson corner failed to trouble Neil Moss before the Cherries goalkeeper parried a speculative long-range drive from Steve Thomas.

Lawrence was then pressed into his more familiar defensive duties, hacking the ball away from under the nose of James Hayter after Feeney's flick from a Cummings centre had again opened up the Dragons rearguard.

Dibble prevented the hosts from going further behind when he pulled off a superb reaction save from Browning's header, the Wrexham stopper flinging himself to his right to keep out the Cherries midfielder's effort from point-blank range following Hayter's 26th-minute corner.

Trinidadian international Lawrence went close to inadvertently extending Cherries' lead when he sliced a clearance inches past Dibble's right-hand post after Steve Fletcher had nodded Carl Fletcher's free-kick into the mixer.

In the closing stages of an impressive first-half for the visitors, Wrexham striker Chris Llewellyn failed to connect with a centre from Carlos Edwards which flashed across the face of the Cherries goalmouth.

Moss smothered an inswinging free-kick from Steve Thomas at his near post at the start of the second half before two important pieces of defending from Karl Broadhurst got Cherries out of two potentially tricky situations.

Firstly, Broadhurst deflected a searching forward pass from Ferguson before he cleared from Paul Edwards after Wrexham had threatened to mount a counter attack during a sustained spell of second-half pressure.

Carl Fletcher also intervened after Hector Sam had looked to pull the trigger following another cross from Carlos Edwards before Llewellyn ballooned a long-range volley high over the woodwork.

Mark Jones clipped the ball narrowly over the crossbar from the edge of the box following a neat interchange of passes between Lawrence and Llewellyn before Moss spread himself to deny the Wrexham substitute at his near post.

Young, on as a 75th-minute replacement for Maher, almost scored with his first touch when his dipping drive from Hayter's corner flew inches over the crossbar before Moss clutched another Thomas free-kick.

The hosts huffed and puffed during the closing stages but were unable to blow the visitors' house down as O'Driscoll's battling troops held on for a much-needed victory.