Manager, Prince receives AFCB recognition then sees his team knock four past Luton Town, away.

On Saturday at Dean Court, AFCB Ladies Manager, Neil Prince received an award from Laurence Jones as a thank you for 6 years service to the women’s team.

The day after, his players provided him with another reward for his work when they battered Luton Town in their own back yard.

The Cherries were quick off the mark and showed their attacking intentions with a spell of short, sharp passing that left Luton chasing shadows in the misty,

Bedfordshire sunshine (try saying that!)

With a sprightly Lindsey Roe and the classy Lisa Langrish in attack it wasn’t too long before Town were pushed back into their defensive third and in the 11^th minute a progressive move down the right ended with the ball being laid back for Claire Heydon, who took one touch before unleashing a shot from 30 yards to give Bournemouth a well deserved lead.

Another attack down the right saw Roe beat two players before sublimely providing Langrish with a great opportunity to increase the lead and although her shot came back off the post, she reacted the quickest to slam the ball into the back of the net giving the red n black pack cause for celebration.

Luton’s misery was compounded just ten minutes before the interval with Heydon’s fortunate second goal, a speculative cross from the right flank which deceived the Luton keeper to give the Cherries a three goal cushion at the break.

Half Time: Luton Town 0-3 AFC Bournemouth Ladies

There was no respite for Luton during the second half and their frustration showed with a couple of hefty challenges but referee Paul Forrester was able to deal with the situation without too much fuss.

Luton did manage to get what proved to be a consolation goal when defensive slackness allowed striker Rebecca Kane too much space and she made no mistake with a fine finish into the far corner.

Bournemouth continued to press for a fourth and when Roe crossed for Langrish it looked all over but her header struck the bar and rebounded to safety. The Cherries did get their just reward when Lisa Langrish received the ball in the attacking third and with her back to goal showed great awareness when she turned and chipped the keeper from all of 25 yards.

It was a superb finish that capped a sparkling team display especially from Langrish and Roe in attack and Fisher and Hoban in defence and in this sort of form,

Bournemouth will rise to meet the challenge of combination football next season.

Full Time: Luton Town 1-4 AFC Bournemouth Ladies

“I am so pleased with the result but I am even more delighted with the way that we achieved it.  The players showed great character in bouncing back from our cup final defeat against Portsmouth and quite honestly, Luton never really stood a chance with the mood that we were in today.  I was delighted to see Beki Rider playing again after her long lay-off due to a knee injury and she did very well to last a whole 90 minutes.

Everyone should be proud of this performance, especially our players.

Next week we are away at QPR; it will be my last match as team manager and I hope that we can finish in style”.