Match Report...
BOURNEMOUTH 3 STOKE CITY 1
Bournemouth striker Warren Feeney scored for the fourth successive match as Sean O'Driscoll's side notched up their first victory in 13 matches at home to promotion hopefuls Stoke.
Feeney, who has now netted nine goals since a pre-season move from Premiership Leeds in the summer, scored one and made another as the Cherries tasted victory for the first time since November.
The Northern Ireland international played a big part in Stephen Purches' sixth minute opener, breaking away down the right before supplying the perfect pass for the youngster to open his Bournemouth account.
Purches gleefully poked the ball home after Derek Holmes' initial shot had been beaten away by goalkeeper Neil Cutler, but the Stoke keeper was powerless to stop the former West Ham defender from making it 1-0.
Bournemouth doubled their lead two minutes before half time when former Scottish Under-21 international Richard Hughes broke free on the left edge of the six-yard box before slotting the ball under Cutler and into the net.
And the home side were 3-0 up just 11 minutes after half time when Feeney capped a man of the match performance with his ninth of the season to put the Cherries out of sight of stunned Stoke.
Feeney raced on to a Holmes header before lashing an unstoppable 20-yard strike into the corner of the net beyond a beleaguered Cutler.
The visitors gave their supporters some hope when Rikhardur Dadason pulled the score back to 3-1 with a 63rd minute penalty.
Referee Steve Bennett had no hesitation in pointing to the spot after Stoke sub Andy Cooke had been pulled down by Bournemouth keeper Gareth Stewart, allowing Dadason the simple task of scoring from the spot.
But that goal was not enough to hand Stoke a share of the spoils as Bournemouth shut up shop to record their first win since a 3-0 victory over non-league Worksop some two and a half months ago.
Stoke manager Gudjon Thordarson made no excuses for his side, saying: "It was an unbelievably poor performance. We were very, very poor."
"The players lacked any defensive capability and likewise any attacking creativity and we will have to go back to basics to get the train back on the track.
"Nobody else is going to win promotion for us we have to do that ourselves and if we are going to get it we must perform much, much better."
Stats below