AFC Bournemouth 0 United 0

United won 3-0 on penalties

Yet again Bucks was able to look back on a match where his United team proved unbeatable in defence. It was a match that provided plenty of excitement despite the 0-0 scoreline and the Gulls' boss was very happy with the performance: ''Bournemouth are a very good side, you don't get promoted into League 1 if you aren't a good team and they have a crowd that get fully behind them so it was always going to be a difficult game with little expected of us. We have our own standards that we want to keep to and although we had to defend for large parts it's arguable that we created the better chances in the game.

''We let Bournemouth have a lot of the ball and we were happy for that to happen because we could sit in behind and counter attack. We ended up using a few formations during the match, we went 4-4-1-1, 4-1-4-1 then went back to our original plan and then 4-4-2 because I thought we were starting to look a bit tired.

''We rested Wayne Carlisle tonight, he played ninety minutes for the first time in about six months at Port Vale and we couldn't risk him playing two full games in four days with the travelling as well and little time to recover, especially with another away trip this weekend. It would have been madness to play him at it also gave an opportunity for Eunan (O'Kane) to play and I thought he took it. Eunan didn't get the freedom he would like because he was up against one of their better players on the night but it was a good test for him.

''If you look at the stadium here and their fanbase it shows you what a tough place this is to come and play at but we have managed to come here and eventually win the tie and keep another clean sheet. We have started another run, it's a game and a half since we conceded a goal now and I'm sure the players are looking at it that way.''

United are taking part in a practice match against Exeter City at the Cat & Fiddle on Wednesday lunchtime which will give a good run-out for the squad members not involved in last night's match.