Giancarlo Bocchetti @GBitsMedia —

The nightmare and the hard days seem to be over at Poppies. Last couple of victories against Brockenhurst (home) and Cowes Sport (away) have raised the morale and confidence of the whole team.

Leonardo Cabeleira, manager of Bournemouth FC, shared his thoughts about the last two performances for Poppies and the upcoming match against Christchurch, a side rival that he knows well.

He confirmed that the back to back win against Cowes (4-1) on the Isle of Wight, was not a coincidence.

“We have been working since the pre-season trying to assemble the puzzle and we can finally see the fruits of our labour. Our victories in the last two games were not by accident but the result of our hard work inside and outside the pitch,” said the manager

The gaffer said that he’s not a superstitious man and the results have come as “a learning curve for the management and the players. We have had difficult days, but patience has paid off“, asserted the manager.

When enquired about the last performances, he confirmed that the team was lacking of, “the experience, without any doubt. We believe a lot in our youngsters, but we understood that it was very important for our game play to mix both. We all have learned from these mistakes, making us a stronger side“.

Edgar Zanin finally found his goal this weekend, the brazilian-bolivian player scored on the ’81 to finally be on the score sheet, a goal that according his manager, he was looking for so long. “I am very happy for him. He’s a young lad that works very hard on the physical side and during our trainings. Although he had a difficult start this season, I was convinced that his quality was going to show at any point“.

A special taste left the performance of Callum Farrugia during the game against Cowes, and Leo confirmed the quality that the management saw on the player

“We always saw something on him. Although he had Tyrone (Carkeet) as the main man on that position (left back), he keeps showing all of his talent and that he has a lot of potential as a player“, confirmed the manager.

Sam Jones made his official return to the club after a brief experience with Hamworthy United and Lymington Town. Leo did not skimp to praise the keeper.

“He is without any doubt one of the best goalkeepers of this league. His brief time on Hamworthy and Lymington surprises me. Sam is bringing his experience back to this club which will help James (Mayo) to fully develop all his potential and quality“, affirmed the manager.

Bournemouth FC will travel to Hurn Bridge this tuesday to face Christchurch for the Sydenham’s Wessex League. Ollie Cherrett’s side currently runs 4th and aim to continue their success against Poppies. Cabeleira admitted that playing against them is always special.

“I have good memories about my time in Christchurch and I will always be grateful for the opportunity they gave me. When I go there I feel welcome by so many people, that are the heart and the soul of the club. As a team, we have a lot of enthusiasm and excitement about this match. We will play a good side on a good pitch. They have on their squad some of our ex players, which has helped to improve the quality on their game so far this season. I look forward to see them all and stretch their hand again“.

Matt Nicholls may only have played a few games this season but the ones he has played, he has shown consistency, good defending and combat spirit.

Nicholls broke the deadlock and the ‘curse’ for Poppies on the ’84 after scoring a cracker from 50 yards, chipping the ball over the keeper.

“I had a good first touch and saw him far from the line, so I went for it“, said the player about the goal.

He also mentioned that he kept observing the movements of the opposition. ” I kept checking on the keeper during the whole game and saw him constantly going far from the line“.

He was named man of the match after giving the victory 1-0 with a goal for team that was so much in need of bouncing back to winning ways “we were a bit lucky but we created good chances during the game, so I think that at the end we deserved the 3 points“.

✍️ Carlo Simone / 📷 Giancarlo Bocchetti | – Bournemouth’s next encounter in the Sydenhams Wessex Premier Division is an away match against AFC Portchester. The Royals currently sit at 11^th place in the league having played four games, whilst the Poppies are just below in 14^th after playing six.

When these two teams met last season both managed away wins against each other, with AFC Portchester securing a 1-0 victory back in September 2018, whilst the Poppies came out winners in an eventful game ending 4-2 in January 2019.

In terms of recent form, AFC Portchester are on a good run with three wins, a draw and a loss in their last five games. Only one of those games was a league match which saw them run out 3-1 winners against Brockenhurst. These results have also seen them progress in the FA Vase by winning away matches against New Milton Town and Hythe & Dibden.

However, they’ve also been knocked out of two other cup competitions. Tadley Calleva overcame them on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the Sydenhams Wessex League Cup, and AFC Totton beat them 4-1 in the Hampshire Senior Cup.

In comparison, Bournemouth have been less successful with three draws and two defeats. Two of these draws came in cup competitions, as they beat Downtown 6-5 on penalties in the Sydenhams Wessex League Cup but were knocked out by Newport IoW 7-6 on penalties in the Hampshire Senior Cup.

In the league itself, a 0-0 draw with Hamworthy Utd was sandwiched in between 1-0 home defeats to Baffins Milton Rovers and AFC Stoneham.

AFC Portchester have been scoring goals quite freely this season, with 12 in their last five games, whilst Bournemouth have only managed three in the same amount of time. However, the Poppies have been much better defensively, so the work of the back four will hope to balance out the difficulties in attack against the Royals.

For team news, centre-back Dan Hill returns from injury and striker Jack Voisey is back in the squad after missing the home defeat to AFC Stoneham.

AFC Portchester vs Bournemouth FC will take place at the Wicor Recreation Ground on 21^st September 2019 at 3pm

✍️ Carlo Simone / 📷 Giancarlo Bocchetti | –

Poppies Manager Leo Cabeleira gave his thoughts ahead of Saturday’s away game against AFC Portchester.

Cabeleira confirmed the team has been working hard during the week in order to bring more goals, as the Poppies have only scored 3 in the last 5 matches.

“We’ve been working during the week to get everything right. The team is playing well but unfortunately we’re not scoring. It’s just a matter of getting that goal and then we’ll start getting the results that we deserve. We’ve just been very unlucky in the last game where we gave a really good performance until we conceded the goal.”

The manager felt confident about getting a good result away against Portchester

“We’ve been playing well and after all the work that we have done during the week with all the coaches being involved, and all the players coming into training and [giving] 100 per cent in every session. [We’re] improving technically, tactically and we are definitely looking forward to Saturday.”

He assured the team will soon pick it’s form after having to build a whole squad from scratch.

“As you know it’s a new team [and] things are going step by step. But players like Tyrone [Carkeet] at right-back have been a good surprise for us. Patrick Wilson came on board, and he is bringing some strength to the back four together with Lewis Harvey and Kevin Foreman. And a big surprise as well has been Jake Harvey, with his improvement. He’s a young boy, but he’s been training well and started every game this season. We’re building up the team and hopefully good things will come in the future.”

✍️ Carlo Simone / 📷 Giancarlo Bocchetti

Bournemouth FC, Assistant Manager Diogo Almeida explained how the team is getting prepared ahead of Saturday’s away match against AFC Portchester.

What exercises have you implemented to try and fix the lack of goals so far this season?

“So we’ve been working a lot in finishing, especially in the technical detail of finishing [with] how to time our runs, how to time our shots, the body shape when receiving the ball, so that’s been the main focus. We’re creating the chances but missing that last bit in the final third, and we’ve been working on that this week, and I’m pretty sure we’re going to get some goals in this Saturday.”

Do you think you’ll find the balance between defence and attack?

“We’ve been very good defensively, very organised. Players know their roles [and] what to do, they know the exact players to mark, so defensively we’ve been very good. Offensively we’re creating the situations, but as I said we’re lacking that last bit to put the ball in the back of the net. We’re hitting the post, we’re hitting the crossbar. I’m pretty sure it’s going to come, it might take some time. It took two sessions this week to work hard [and] concentrate, and then Saturday [there’s] going to come the moment when defence and attack are on the same level.”

Would you consider tonight’s [training] session run with high intensity?

“The session started very well. I know it’s difficult for these guys [as] they work during the day, eight, nine hours maybe. Some of them might wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning, so it’s normal for the first 15-20 minutes of the session [to be] very good and then obviously the concentration starts
dropping a little bit. But we talked with them and they understand they need to be concentrating, they need to be focused, and it has to be during the whole session, because in the game you’re not going to be playing 45 minutes, you’re going to play 90 minutes. We spoke with them two weeks ago about this concentration and the intensity of the sessions is improving, it’s getting better. Today dropped a little bit at the end, but I’m pretty sure these guys are [going] in the right direction.”

“I have had a change of life circumstances with my kids and just think it’s time to move on.
“There is no animosity, I get on well with everybody there and I think I have left the club in good hands. Leo (Cabeleira) is going to take over.
“I have had to sit down and think about it really hard but I just think it’s good for them to have someone else in charge.”
Manager Cuffie admitted he would be open to other opportunities at Wessex League level, should the opportunity arise.
“After the season we had last season, it (the Wessex League) is where I want to stay,” he added.
“I have a lot of contacts. I am good at what I do and I just think it’s time to move on.”

MICHAEL Cuffie announced he had stepped down as manager at Poppies.
The former Victoria Park boss guided the club to third spot in Wessex Premier last season, as well as winning the Bournemouth Senior Cup for the fifth time in their history.
Poppies sealed victory in 19 of their 38 league fixtures under Cuffie last season, totalling 67 points to finish behind runners-up Horndean and table-toppers Sholing.
Former Christchurch manager Cuffie told the Daily Echo: “I just think I have taken the club as far as I can. I need a new challenge – that may come, it may not.