Bournemouth 2, Wycombe Wanderers 0.

TWO dreadful pieces of defending condemned Wanderers to another defeat as they were left battered and bruised by Bournemouth.

A comedy of errors allowed Wes Thomas to poke home a first half opener before more poor defending at a corner let Michael Symes score a header of such bewildering simplicity after the break.

While those two errors ultimately proved costly, in truth Blues could have no complaints about the result after being absolutely dominated.

At times in the second half Wanderers goalkeeper Nikki Bull was exposed to a shooting match as a swashbuckling Bournemouth ran riot.

The outstanding Bull was all that stood between Wanderers being on the receiving end of a sound thrashing and just the 2-0 defeat they were ultimately relieved to come away with.

Home keeper Darryl Flahavan had probably his easiest afternoon of the season as the Dorset side completed the double over Blues with a comprehensive win.

Worryingly it’s not the first time this season Wanderers have failed to work an opposing goalkeeper as they lacked any spark in midfield to help strikers Stuart Beavon and Marcello Trotta, who were left starved of any service.

The game’s first corner went to the home side and Marc Pugh’s delivery needed to be cleared off the line by the returning Tunnicliffe, before Symes lashed the rebound over the bar.

It was the sign of things to come.

Winger Pugh, who scored the winner when the sides last met at Adams Park in November, then sent over the cross that resulted in Bull being forced into his first save when he batted away Thomas’s downward header.

Part two of that personal duel went the way of the Wanderers custodian as he gathered Thomas’s snatched shot at the near post after Symes had robbed Marvin McCoy and wriggled his way past the visiting defence to put his strike partner in on goal.

But Thomas wasn’t to be denied and it was the Cherries’ number nine who opened the scoring after a disastrous piece of defending from Wanderers. From a low cross skipper Gareth Ainsworth appeared to kick the ball against James Tunnicliffe in his bid to clear, and with the defender out of position it rebounded out to an unmarked Thomas to slam home.

Until that point Blues had been defending superbly against a side that poured forward at every opportunity. Tunnicliffe, in the side thanks to Dave Winfield’s knee injury, clearly felt he had a point to prove and threw himself at the way of every cross that came into the box, and barely a minute before the opening goal Leon Johnson had produced a fantastic block to deny Steven Gregory just as he looked odds-on to score against his former team.

Little had been seen from Wanderers in an attacking sense with top scorer Beavon summing up the first half by blasting Blues’ first clear opening out for a throw-in.

Bournemouth were still doing all of the attacking and the lively Pugh will feel he ought to have done better after turning McCoy inside out from a quickly-taken free-kick, only for his touch to let him down and allow Bull to produce a smothering save.

Beavon had been constantly frustrated by a well drilled offside trap and when he did finally break through he chipped it to Trotta, whose shot was deflected over by Stephane Zubar as the home fans were finally given something to bite their nails over.

Wanderers’ leading scorer looped a header over the bar from a McCoy cross barely thirty seconds into the second half as Blues finally started to look like they were getting a foothold on a game where they had been second best.

Still Bournemouth looked to attack though and Bull made a great save low down from Wes Fogden’s well-hit effort.

And they were rewarded for their enterprise with a second goal five minutes after the break that again owed much to some dreadful defending from Wanderers. Stuart Lewis failed to get anywhere near enough on his attempt at a clearing header and ended up flicking it on at a perfect height for Symes to effortlessly nod into the bottom corner past a flat-footed Bull.

Wanderers had no answer to the home side’s corner routines as the next set piece was played to Harry Arter, loitering with intent near the edge of the box, and his shot again saw Bull at his best to beat it away. Blues struggled to clear their lines and were relieved when Fogden blasted over the bar.

The Cherries were rampant by this stage and many fans were already on their feet to acclaim a third goal when Symes turned Danny Foster, but they were left with hands on heads when Bull somehow got down to turn his shot away.

Bournemouth were threatening to run away with it and were playing with such a confidence and a swagger, and Fogden had a golden chance to make it three when sent clear by Symes’ sumptuous pass only for that man Bull to make another excellent save.

By now the 640 Blues fans were chanting “Wake up Wycombe” but they were caught flat again by Symes’ bisecting pass, although on this occasion Foster was alert to the danger and was able to block Pugh’s shot as the winger took too long over it.

Wanderers: Bull, McCoy (sub Basey), Johnson, Tunnicliffe, Foster, Ainsworth (sub Harris), Lewis, Bloomfield, McNamee, Beavon, Trotta. Substitutes not used: Strevens, Grant, Rendell.

Attendance: 7,202 (Wycombe 640)