HEADING to Molineux at the end of November, many Cherries fans were hopeful of getting one over former boss Gary O’Neil, in charge at strugglers Wolves.
A remarkable game of football followed – four goals in the opening 20 minutes saw Bournemouth lead 3-1, and after Jorgen Strand Larsen reduced the deficit to one, the home fans had hope.
But it was a day of records for the Cherries as five minutes later, Evanilson won his third penalty of the game, which was duly dispatched by Justin Kluivert to score the first ever hattrick of penalties in the Premier League.
This crazy game of football was the first in a record run for the Cherries, as they soared to 11 games unbeaten in the top flight.
(Image: Nick Potts/PA Wire) An important moment in the West Midlands, although not apparent at the time, was Marcos Senesi hobbling off with eight minutes to go.
He was replaced by Dean Huijsen, who to that point had started just two league games for the Cherries, against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.
The then-19-year-old would not miss a minute from that point until starting on the bench on the final day of the campaign, ahead of a move to Real Madrid.
Huijsen would make an immediate impact and make fans and clubs sit up and take notice.
Heading back to Dean Court with the three points, up next was the visit of Tottenham Hotspur.
(Image: Richard Crease) The young Spaniard scored the only goal of the game, heading home from a Marcus Tavernier corner after 17 minutes, as the Cherries made it two wins on the bounce, moving them above their visitors and into the top 10 in the league.
A trip to promoted Ipswich Town was next, and it looked like the unbeaten run was set to end after it had barely started.
A first half Conor Chaplin goal set the Tractor Boys on for what would have been a first home win in the Premier League since 2002 – but Andoni Iraola’s Cherries (and his substitutes) had different ideas.
Enes Unal and Dango Ouattara both came on with 27 minutes to play.
The Turkish striker scored the equaliser with three minutes to play, assisted by the Burkinabe, before Ouattara smashed home in the fifth added minute as the hosts failed to clear their lines.
(Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire) Unal would again play a key role off the bench in the next match, and again it was late on in the game.
Hosting West Ham, Bournemouth seemed to have thrown away any sort of result when Tyler Adams gave away a penalty for handball, Lucas Paqueta scoring from the spot with three minutes to go.
But Unal scored a sensational free kick from 30 yards to earn a point – remarkably the ninth league goal scored after the 85th minute to that point in the season.
(Image: Richard Crease) There wasn’t any late drama up next for the Cherries, though.
Travelling to Manchester United the weekend before Christmas, Iraola’s side put on a clinic at Old Trafford, defeating the struggling Red Devils 3-0.
Huijsen opened the scoring with a header from a free kick in the first half, before Kluivert scored a penalty and Antoine Semenyo put the game to bed in the 61st and 63rd minutes.
(Image: Martin Rickett/PA Wire) That took the Cherries to fifth at Christmas, and, after a drab 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace on Boxing Day, a far more entertaining draw came at Fulham just before the new year.
It was another late goal from a substitute that sealed a point for Iraola’s side – Ouattara coming off the bench to show sensational composure to chip Bernd Leno in the 89th minute.
That levelled the game at 2-2 after Raul Jimenez gave the Cottagers the lead five minutes before the break, before Evanilson equalised six minutes into the second half and Harry Wilson handed the hosts the lead once again with 18 minutes to play.
James Hill had a goal disallowed controversially by VAR, but Fulham were fuming as Ryan Christie avoided a red card for a strong challenge on Antonee Robinson in the first half.
(Image: Steven Paston/PA Wire) Returning to the Vitality Stadium, the Cherries broke their previous record unbeaten run in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Everton, thanks to David Brooks’ goal of the season nominated volley.
A record-equalling cup run began next, and it started in some style.
Despite conceding early to West Brom, the Cherries hit back in fine style, Kluivert and two goals from Ouattara handing Bournemouth the 3-1 halftime lead.
The Burkinabe turned provider for Semenyo two minutes after the break and Daniel Jebbison sealed progression in stoppage time with a 5-1 win.
(Image: Richard Crease) The injuries were beginning to mount up, though – prior to the visit of the Baggies, both senior strikers, Unal and Evanilson, were ruled out, the former for the season with an ACL injury, and the latter for surgery on a fractured metatarsal.
Jebbison was recalled from his loan at Watford, and the Cherries headed to Chelsea with only one other senior outfield player on the bench alongside the Canadian, in Kluivert.
But the Dutchman was introduced early after injury to James Hill, and scored a second half equaliser after Bournemouth had trailed 1-0 at the break.
(Image: Steven Paston/PA Wire) Semenyo gave Iraola’s side the lead, but a stoppage time free kick from Reece James rescued a point for the Blues, although the boss felt it should have been disallowed for disruption to the Cherries wall.
Arguably the Cherries’ two best performances of the season came next.
With no fit first team replacements, they headed to the north east to face Newcastle, the Magpies on a run of nine wins in a row.
But the Cherries dominated and were too much for Eddie Howe’s side, Kluivert netting a brilliant hattrick, two in the first half as Bournemouth led 2-1 at halftime.
(Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire) Kluivert’s third and Milos Kerkez’s strike in stoppage time sealed a brilliant 4-1 win at St James’ Park.
Back down to the Vitality Stadium for the visit of Forest and it was another hattrick that propelled the Cherries to a 5-0 win, this time from makeshift number nine Ouattara.
Goals from Kluivert and Semenyo too helped Bournemouth to stretch their unbeaten run to 11.
(Image: Richard Crease) Into February, and that run would come to an end at home against top-of-the-table Liverpool, the Cherries beaten 2-0 thanks to two Mo Salah goals despite a strong performance.
A final trip to Goodison Park followed in the cup, Semenyo scoring from the penalty spot and Jebbison netting before halftime to secure progression to the fifth round.
Another record would come in the next game at St Mary’s, as the Cherries beat Southampton to complete their first ever league double over their south coast neighbours.
(Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire) Christie and Ouattara gave them a 2-0 lead at halftime, and while Kamaldeen Sulemana got one back for the Saints, Tavernier scored 11 minutes later to restore the two-goal deficit and earn a 3-1 lead.
Now sat fifth in the league, the fans were dreaming of Europe – but an up and down finish to the season was to follow.
Read the final part of the Daily Echo Cherries season review tomorrow.