Cherries 2 Wigan 2

NEW Dean Court player-coach Peter Grant is convinced Cherries must learn to shut up shop if they hope to become genuine Division 2 title contenders.

Grant received a rapturous welcome from the Cherries faithful when he was officially unveiled to the fans before the start of Saturday's final game of the season against Wigan.

The 34-year-old former Celtic star took his seat in the stand and watched Cherries cruise into a deserved 2-0 interval lead thanks to goals from Wade Elliott and Claus Jorgensen.

But Grant also saw Mel Machin's men press the self-destruct button as the Latics were allowed to hit back twice inside the final five minutes to grab a share of the spoils.

The straight-talking Scotsman said: "I was very impressed with the performance and I thought Bournemouth were very unlucky not to win the game because they deserved a lot more than one point.

"They certainly like to play the game the way it should be played although maybe because of their inexperience they need to know how to make sure they win from being 2-0 ahead.

"If you play the best teams in this division and they go in front, they rarely drop points and that's the difference between promotion and championship material.

Grant, who has agreed a three-year contract, added: "It was a good performance and my biggest problem now will be trying to win a place in the side."

Cherries took the lead after 27 minutes when Elliott notched his third goal in six starts by heading home Christer Warren's cross at the near post.

Jorgensen, who swept the honours during the player of the year awards before kick-off, added Cherries' second goal on the stroke of half-time following good work by John O'Neill.

But Wigan secured their place in the play-offs when Pat McGibbon was gifted a free header five minutes from time before Neil Roberts nodded home the equaliser in injury time.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.