Bond enjoys the bragging rights as win lifts Cherries

Cherries' former boss endured a fruitless trip on his first return to Dean Court as his successor royally claimed the managerial bragging rights.

The princes of the north were sent packing by the paupers of the south thanks to goals either side of half-time from Brett Pitman and David McGoldrick.

"O'Driscoll, what's the score?" came the cry from the North Stand as the Cherries faithful taunted the prodigal son after McGoldrick had given them a 2-0 lead.

This latest defeat capped a miserable homecoming for O'Driscoll and left big-spending Doncaster's promotion hopes heading in the wrong direction.

Fielding questions in his own unique way at his post-match press conference, O'Driscoll was asked whether it had seemed strange coming back: "Not really."

And asked jokingly whether he had entered the correct dressing room, his reply did not seem to reciprocate the humour: "I went left, I wasn't going to go right, was I?"

The irony was not lost on the press pack considering O'Dris-coll's charges had taken more than their fair share of wrong turns during the 90 minutes.

Privately, he must have been spitting feathers at Donny's abject inability to neither beat nor seriously test a Cherries side which had been shorn of its spine.

And although he could point to the loss of strikers Jason Price and Paul Heffernan, the absence of Neil Young, James Hayter and Darren Anderton unarguably impacted more on Cherries' threadbare squad.

Just 12 months ago and with five years' experience behind him, O'Driscoll had struggled in not dissimilar circumstances when a post-Christmas collapse saw Cherries hurtle towards the relegation zone.

However, while it took O'Driscoll more than eight months to record six league wins in 2006, novice Bond has achieved the same victory tally in fewer than nine weeks in 2007.

With untried 17-year-old Josh McQuoid making up the numbers on the bench and Marc Wilson and Bjarni Vidarsson both under the weather, Bond made light of Cherries' problems by starting with an adventurous formation.

Bond said: "I took a bit of a gamble because we were at home and played three up front. I wanted us to get off to a fast start because we seem to have done better from that type of situation rather than being conservative in home games.

"Doncaster had a fair amount of possession in the first half because of the shape we played, but I didn't think they hurt us. But we seemed a bit off the pace, didn't win enough second balls, didn't knock the ball around enough and didn't seem to play with enough belief."

A hesitant start by Cherries saw them continue to squander possession and Mark McCammon wasted a glorious early chance to put the visitors ahead when he nodded Brian Stock's sixth-minute corner wide from barely six yards.

McCammon, affectionately known as the Drogba of the North', was then superbly shackled for the rest of the game by Josh Gowling and Karl Broadhurst, the Baresi and Beckenbauer of Dorset.

As Cherries began to find their feet, Pitman was denied when James O'Connor threw himself at the striker's feet to block before McGoldrick presented Neil Sullivan with a chance to pull off a theatrical save for the cameras.

Lewis Guy forced Neil Moss into making his first save after 17 minutes, the Cherries stopper diving to his right to pouch his shot, before the same player fired well wide after being set free by Stock's delightful through ball.

Warren Cummings was deservedly booked for scything James Coppinger before Jonathan Forte then also saw yellow for a late lunge on the Cherries defender.

Although Doncaster enjoyed the lion's share of possession during the first half, Steve Fletcher went close to breaking the deadlock twice towards the end of the opening period. The big targetman displayed some nifty footwork to create the first chance which fizzed narrowly past the post before his second effort went the same way.

Pitman found the target in no uncertain terms on the stroke of half-time when his thunderous strike almost ripped the back of the net. The goal owed much to the tenacity and vision of McGol-drick, a point not lost on Pitman.

"Dave nicked it past his man and slid the ball through to me. It was a great pass," said the 19-year-old, who finished his fifth goal of the season with a ferocious right-foot drive.

"Those are probably the hardest ones to take because you have a lot of time to think. I just made sure I hit the target and, luckily, it went in. It gave us a great lift just before half-time."

Cherries were on cloud nine when McGoldrick doubled their lead just two minutes into the second half, the Saints loan striker scoring and assisting for the second game in succession.

Under pressure from Fletcher, Adam Lockwood gave Sullivan a nasty backpass which the goalkeeper could only manage to hook as far as McGoldrick who clipped it into the top corner from around 20 yards.

And with their finishing exemplary, all that remains now is for Pitman and McGoldrick to polish up on their goal celebrations. "We've been messing about in training on the dance routine but it isn't the best!" admitted Pitman, who revealed their jig was supposed to be in time with a number by RnB group Young Jock.

Bond said: "They are both good finishers and can conjure something out of nothing. You need that, especially when you're up against it."

Donny's response was lacklustre as Moss enjoyed one of his easiest clean sheets of the season. He leapt from his shooting stick to save comfortably from Forte before Graeme Lee scuffed wide when well placed.

Linesman Guy Beale failed to signal for a penalty after Sean McDaid had charged down Steve Purches's cross with his hand, while Forte's gaping headed miss from Craig Nelthorpe's 83rd-minute centre summed up Donny's day.