City make a decent point against leaders

The City boss had warned the fans not to expect a classic – and he got it right there.

“The only thing that didn’t come was the force ten gales,” he smiled. “We knew it was always going to be a battle.

“The pitch was heavy and Bournemouth are a very strong side physically. I said it was not one for the purists and it certainly turned out that way.”

But while the match itself is unlikely to make any end-of-season highlight reels, the draw that toppled Bournemouth from the top after a two-month reign was a result to be applauded.

Given the circumstances, this latest stalemate was definitely in the point gained category.

Up against the meanest travelling defence in the division, McCall was forced to mix and match. James Hanson’s midweek knock had thrown another spanner in the works as he joined a casualty list top heavy on forwards.

It left Gareth Evans – not 100 per cent himself after his foot injury – as the sole senior striker, with McCall forced to throw Michael Flynn up front as company.

It was not a completely alien role for Flynn, who had done a good job there in the second half of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. His former boss Paul Jewell, watching from the press box, had used him sparingly in that role for Wigan.

But it was still a big gamble on McCall’s part, with the manager again using Zesh Rehman in that holding midfield role which is hardly his comfort zone.

The reshuffle also meant that Matt Clarke stayed put in the heart of defence for his first league outing since that best-forgotten August afternoon in Nottingham.

So given the reworked spine of the team, a draw with such high-flying opponents should not be sniffed at. McCall certainly thought so.

“There have been games this season when we’ve dropped points and been disappointed to only draw but that’s not the case this time.

“When you take everything into account – going a goal behind, our endeavours from Tuesday night and the injury list – it was a deserved point and I’m reasonably pleased.”

Clarke claimed there was little between the two teams.

The big defender felt understandably a bit heavy-legged at the end of his second game in four days but his efforts were justified.

Clarke said: “We defended well and got players round when we needed it. I thought we did well in the first half and at the start of the second before we got a bit tired.

“They’d not played in midweek and I think that showed in the last 20 minutes. Their keeper has a brilliant long kick which they used to their advantage but we managed to keep it tight.

“It would have been nice to win but it’s good just to be playing a league game again.

“You don’t want to get forgotten about. As the games go on, you want to get your face back in there and prove yourself.”

Clarke, so often the scapegoat, looked strong and solid in the air and muscled up against the battering frame of Steve Fletcher in the final half hour. One mistake could have been costly when he failed to cut out the centre forward’s knockdown but Simon Eastwood came to his rescue by blocking Brett Pitman’s snap-shot.

Clarke was not alone in an error-strewn contest, with both teams guilty of giving the ball away too often. But the surface did nobody any favours, particularly the strip running parallel with the main stand where the ball fell flat as a pancake.

The opening goal came from a City hesitation in midfield as Rehman was taken completely out of the play by Alan Connell’s clever reverse pass.

That left Anton Robinson clear to exploit a wide-open central defence, drawing Eastwood from his goal before supplying Pitman with a tap-in.

Despite a few protestations, Pitman was onside when he got the pass. But while he got that right, he was out of order to milk the moment, arms outstretched in front of the home fans.

Referee Andy Haines should have taken action but didn’t. It was certainly not the only time the official infuriated City by doing nothing.

Haines could not be accused of favouring the home side at all. On one rare occasion when he did give something their way, McCall’s ironic applause above his head said it all.

The City boss will have been frustrated with the number of wasteful high balls pumped forwards. It obviously took a while for the penny to drop that Hanson was not up there.

Flynn battled manfully but there was always going to be more joy when they kept it on the ground.

After a couple of tight – but correct – offside calls against Evans, the striker seized on a blunder from Ryan Garry to burst clear but he chose to shoot with his left foot rather than right and scuffed it miles wide.

Given Bournemouth’s defensive miserliness, that looked a big miss.

The Cherries hardly looked a table-topping outfit but there was an understandable confidence about their approach.

Eastwood saved a Connell curler before Pitman broke the deadlock just after the half hour.

City, to their credit, responded within nine minutes. Lee Bullock, such a welcome sight back in the engine room, threaded a pass into the path of Evans and this time the composure was there to round Shwan Jalal and walk the ball into the net.

They almost had another in stoppage time. Too many set-pieces had gone straight into Jalal’s arms but Rehman kept a corner alive and when Clarke turned it into the danger zone, Bullock was close to converting.

It was all to play for after the break. While the scratchy quality did not improve, there was enough incident to keep both teams on their toes.

Jalal blocked Flynn’s shot on the turn before Bournemouth threatened to capitalise on a few City slips.

First it was Flynn giving the ball away and Robinson should have done much better when Liam Feeney’s miscued drive fell right at his feet ten yards out.

Then Clarke let Pitman in and Rehman allowed Feeney to whisk another shot tantalisingly across the goalmouth.

Lee Bradbury also showed that he had clearly forgotten everything from his striker days as the reinvented right back sliced wastefully off target.

City were tiring but McCall had little back-up to call upon. The crowd, sensing the game was slipping away, upped the momentum to keep them going.

It nearly came off as the hosts rallied again in the final minutes to win a corner.

Bullock’s wait for a first goal of the season looked over as his header threatened to sneak inside the near post but Jalal’s impressive afternoon was capped by a reaction lunge to claw the ball away.