It was Easter Monday 2015, and Bournemouth battled back to claim a crucial win over Birmingham City. Despite being two down the Cherries rallied and gained a pivotal three points, edging them that bit closer to promotion and that Championship title. Here's our memories of the day...
On Easter Monday in 2015, the stakes couldn't have been higher for the Cherries. Eddie Howe's men were locked in a tense promotion battle with only a handful of games remaining, so fighting back from two down to win was nothing short of monumental.
Early Nerves
Despite the visitors being at the other end of the Championship table, they came to promotion hopefuls Bournemouth in courageous fashion and capitalised on their early dominance.
Clayton Donaldson reached David Shinnie’s through ball to chip over the on rushing Artur Boruc and into the empty net, then David Cotterill cut in from the right to smash home just inside the far post. Two goals up inside twenty minutes and it was fair to say that the Cherries faithful in the stands were starting to worry.
Fortunately for the Bournemouth faithful, the team were instantly ready to fightback and ensure their promotion charge was still very much on track.
They were back in the game a little over five minutes before the interval, a goalmouth scramble ended with Steve Cook prodding home Matt Ritchie’s corner from the right hand side. And in stoppage time of the first half, a sublime turn and pass from Yann Kermorgant sent Cherries main man Callum Wilson through to round keeper Darren Randolph and score, 2-2 at the break.
It only took a couple of minutes of the second half before Kermorgant put Wilson through again, only this time Birmingham defender Paul Robinson brought him down and Kermorgant converted the penalty. Then, in the 74th minute, a series of near misses ended when Charlie Daniels’ strike bounced in to make it 4-2 and seal a crucial comeback victory for the Cherries.
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe knew just how vital that victory was for the team.
"The key thing was that we stayed in the game, kept fighting and got those crucial goals before half time. The crowd stayed with us, and our mental strength was key. We know we can beat anyone when we're at full pelt, and hopefully we can learn from this experience."
An Impactful Three Points
Over the course of Bournemouth's promotion season, there were countless moments and games that felt pivotal to their title win and there's no doubt that this win on Easter Monday was one of them.
The Cherries ended the campaign with an impressive 90 points and Premier League football around the corner.
This season, with Coventry currently closing on in on the Championship title, and with Middlesbrough, Millwall and Ipswich battling it out for second place, observing how the second tier is unfolding in 2025/26 is bringing flashbacks to many a Cherries fan, a tense time that was tinged with nerves, anxiety, but ultimately insatiable joy!