New owners toasting an old head on Darren's Day

On the day Cherries celebrated the arrival of new owners, the oldest player in the team stole the show on Saturday.

And as Jeff Mostyn and Steve Sly looked on, St Patrick's Day became Darren's Day as Darren Anderton netted a potentially-priceless winner to throw Cherries a relegation lifeline.

His six goals this season have been vital to Cherries, none more so than his stunning volley which accounted for the play-off chasing Lions.

Now in the twilight of his career, the former England international is out of contract in the summer but still has much to offer at 35.

His arrival in early September raised more than a few eyebrows at Dean Court, with some suggesting he was the luxury player that Cherries could ill afford.

But should they ultimately avoid the drop, his contribution will have been invaluable, as it was on his return to action following a three-week layoff on Saturday.

Not for the first time this season, Anderton's goal ensured Cherries claimed a greater share of the points than they may have, while his performance was also key.

His majestic left-foot strike came after 19 minutes when he steered the ball into an unguarded net from just outside the 18-yard box.

Anderton was presented with the opening after Millwall goalkeeper Lenny Pidgeley had punched the ball straight to him following a throw-in.

It was a classic finish.

"Luckily for me, the ball came out to the edge of the box and I caught it pretty sweetly. It was one of my better goals this season, that's for sure!" he said, speaking with genuine modesty.

Boss Kevin Bond, who saw Anderton's strike take Cherries three points clear of the drop zone, was slightly more enthused: "Darren is absolute quality and it was a fantastic goal.

"In games where it's frenetic and hectic, somebody with that bit of quality can make the difference and Darren can do that for you. I thought he was always dangerous when he was on the ball and didn't give it away."

Cherries emerged as worthy winners from an absorbing contest and but for some more clinical finishing, the margin of victory would have been far greater.

It was as if Bond had waved a magic wand over his players as Cherries rediscovered their form following two awful away displays.

James Hayter set the tone when he went close to marking his 350th league appearance with a goal, his left-foot snapshot fizzing past the base of the post just six minutes in.

And although Tom Brighton responded for the Lions when his hooked effort looped over the crossbar, Hayter was again narrowly off target when his low drive flashed past the upright.

Cherries were rewarded for their fast start when Anderton pounced after the Lions had failed to deal with Marc Wilson's long throw.

And after Steve Fletcher had flicked on at the near post, Pidgeley's weak clearance was returned with interest by Anderton.

A cheeky corner routine almost yielded a second Cherries goal when Josh Gowling arrived at the near post to meet Anderton's delivery, only to see his shot blocked.

As the Lions struggled to create any chances of note, neither Marvin Elliot nor Alan Dunne could test Neil Moss, despite meeting corners from Dave Brammer in quick succession.

However, Dunne wasted a good scoring chance when his fierce drive flashed across the face of the goalmouth following a well-worked move down the right.

Bond later hailed Cherries' display as "great, apart from 15 minutes before half-time when we sat too deeply and invited pressure".

He was also pleased with the second half when he felt Cherries had "tried not to sit on our lead and tried to get after them and close them down when they had the ball".

Bond also spoke of the "number of chances in the second half where perhaps we should have wrapped it up".

Two of those opportunities fell to David McGoldrick within 10 minutes of the restart. He left a defender with twisted blood before firing narrowly over the crossbar and then forced Pidgeley to save low to his left after being put through by Josh Walker.

The Middlesbrough loan man also drew a save from Pidgeley after letting fly from distance before Hayter volleyed over in the 68th minute.

With Josh Gowling and Neil Young at their imperious best at the back, Millwall hardly got a sniff as dangerman Darren Byfield was well shackled.

Cherries' only real scare came after 72 minutes when Elliott's volley struck Byfield and the ball looped up into the air to wrong-foot Moss. But as the Cherries goalkeeper looked on helplessly, the ball dropped the right side of the post.

It was more pennies from heaven than coins from the South Stand, with Moss forced to take evasive action as some Lions supporters pelted his goalmouth with money.

Although a stray 75th-minute pass from Gowling prompted an angry response from Bond, the boss was delighted with his defenders: "The two centre-halves were fantastic and they got back to defending the way they had been before the last two away games."

McGoldrick and Walker both had chances in the closing stages, the Saints loan striker stopped in his tracks by Paul Robinson's excellent last-ditch tackle as he looked destined to score six minutes from time.

"It was a really big win for us," said Bond. "Hopefully it will do us the world of good from every aspect. We've had some of our best results against some of the so-called better teams and have come unstuck on occasions when we shouldn't have. There doesn't seem to any rhyme or reason for it."