Bournemouth 4, Oxford Utd 0 NEIL McGowan was sent off for violent conduct as Oxford United's 11-game unbeaten run was blown to pieces in a stormy, ill-tempered Division 2 game at Dean Court.

Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the U's in Saturday's pouring rain.

They conceded a dreadfully soft goal after a schoolboy error by Phil Whelan, were then very unlucky as Derek Lilley beat the keeper only to see his shot come back off the bar, and in the 38th minute, it all went pear-shaped.

James Hayter was steaming in on goal when he was challenged from behind by McGowan. Referee Fraser Stretton pointed for a penalty and the Scottish dfeender, seemingly incensed that Hayter had made too much of the fall, appeared to elbow the Bournemouth defender in the head.

Players raced over to try to cool tempers and it became, briefly, one almighty melee of pushing, shoving and accusations of cheating on the right edge of the penalty area. After order was eventually restored, McGowan was sent off, and Northern Ireland internatonal Steve Robinson sent Paul Lundin the wrong way from the spot.

United probably thought that it couldn't have got much worse than that nightmare first half. But the second began just as badly.

Mark Watson slipped as Mark Stein laid off a pass to Robinson, who fired in a 20-yard shot which Lundin turned unconvincingly for a corner. And from the flag-kick, Claus Jorgensen glanced in a header from four yards to make it 3-0.

How different it had all been in the early stages when Oxford knocked the ball around confidently, Lilley scooping a shot over in the first minute and Matt Murphy just failing to meet Rob Folland's pass.

But they started to lose their composure and discipline as they became angered by what they felt were several instances of Bournemouth players diving to try to earn free-kicks.

Steve Robinson was allowed a free header at a corner and, as the rain came tumbling down, the defensive errors got worse. When John O'Neill played the ball through, Whelan was in possession of the ball and facing his own goal. But he seemed to think Lundin would hack clear, not realising the keeper had retreated to position himself for a passback.

Steve Fletcher had time to thank both players for the early Christmas present and shot low past Lundin.

It was a shocking goal to give away but two minutes later it was so nearly 1-1 as Lilley cut in purposefully from the right and hit a cracking shot against the bar.

It was effectively over as a contest once McGowan had given away the spot-kick and the visitors were down to ten men.

In the second half, they tried to keep playing football, even as the conditions worsened, and Jamie Cook was always lively and inventive.

But there was an air of resentment, the Oxford players furious at the way their Bournemouth counterparts kept hitting the deck looking for fouls, and another flare-up erupted between Watson and Steve Robinson which saw both players booked. Kevin Francis and Paul Powell came on for the final 15 minutes, but in injury time, tired United were torn apart down their left. Jorgensen crossed low and Hayter, running in, shot home first-time for what, from Bournemouth's point of view, was a lovely goal.

Story date: Monday 20 December

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