AT least Jeff Mostyn and Steve Sly had one pleasant surprise on the first anniversary of their controversial takeover.

A year of turmoil was brought to a close with a deserved victory as the consortium marked its first birthday in celebratory circumstances.

It was hardly a classic, more socks and hankies than expensive train sets and iPods.

But showering Mostyn and Sly with presents will have been the last thing on the minds of long-suffering Cherries fans following a disastrous 12 months.

It started promisingly when shareholders gave the pair their overwhelming backing after Mostyn had publicly declared that his consortium offered "the last known hope for this football club".

On the pitch, successive wins over Millwall, Tranmere and Rotherham provided the foundation for boss Kevin Bond to chart a path to League One safety.

The early signs were encouraging and sights were set on promotion following a summer rebuilding of the squad and a behind-the-scenes shake-up.

Best laid plans and all that.

Optimism soon turned to despair as a miserable start to the season saw Cherries plummet to the foot of the table by the end of September.

Their cause was not helped by a glut of long-term injuries, while a calamitous nine-match winless run of home league games did little to inspire the Dean Court faithful.

With the team struggling, Cherries' new owners then managed to rocket to the top of the PR own goal league, a position they have occupied for much of an instantly forgettable season.

The shutters came down as the club's loyal, paying customers were starved of information. No news was bad news as Mostyn and Sly's reign lurched from one crisis to another, amidst a barrage of negative publicity.

Administration brought the whole sorry affair out into the open, with Mostyn and Sly receiving widespread criticism after it was revealed their initial investment had been by way of loans rather than share capital. This saw them crowned - by some considerable distance - champions of the PR own goal league.

Even Cherries administrator Gerald Krasner has caught wind of the ill-feeling towards Mostyn, describing him last week as "not everyone's favourite person", after unveiling his new consortium as the successful bidder for the club.

Supporters again voted with their feet on Saturday with the visit of Yeovil attracting fewer than 4,000 home fans among an attendance of 4,145. In the two previous seasons, this fixture drew crowds of 7,285 and 7,989.

The derby came just two days after Mostyn and Sly, together with Marc Jackson and "a host of corporate/football strategy partners", had had their bid for the club accepted, in principle, by Krasner. The whereabouts and identity of the fourth member of Mostyn's consortium, outlined by Krasner at a press conference just a week earlier, still remains a mystery.

Although the recent past is unlikely to be quickly forgotten by Cherries supporters, if Jackson's blueprint for the future is to prove successful, good times could be on the horizon.

The 46-year-old international businessman insists that Cherries will turn to youth in an attempt to make an instant return to League One next season, should they ultimately slip through the trap door.

And on the evidence of Cherries' victory over Yeovil, Joe Roach would appear to have given Jackson the perfect platform.

For their not inconsiderable part, Mostyn and Sly should be commended for sticking with the youth policy when scrapping it could have saved a few quid in the short term.

No fewer than seven members of Bond's squad could have lined up in Cherries' 3-0 win over Youth Alliance rivals Bristol Rovers at Chapel Gate on Saturday morning.

Five filled the substitutes' bench, while Brett Pitman, who still qualifies as an over-age player, and Sam Vokes combined for Cherries' second goal against the Glovers.

Unlike the first team at the start of this season, Roach's charges have prospered in times of adversity, with second place in their league testament to the work of an unsung and economically-funded youth department.

Believed to have one of the lowest budgets in England and heavily reliant on Brockenhurst College and the Hampshire Learning Skills Council, in Vokes, the scheme has produced one of the most sought-after strikers in the country.

And Yeovil's slim hopes of gate-crashing Mostyn and Sly's party were put to bed once the teenager had plundered his 11th goal of the season by heading home Pitman's 32nd-minute cross.

Jackson, who was among the crowd, said he had been "encouraged" by the display and described Vokes, Danny Hollands and Jason Pearce as "superb".

He added: "I thought it was a great performance and I thought they played with a lot of heart. It shows we can compete. When you look through the leagues and see the teams that are really playing well and competing, probably 60-per-cent have predominantly younger players, especially in the Championship and below."

Cherries took the lead after Hollands had started and finished a move in the ninth minute. After he had swept the ball wide to Maxi Gradel and the Ivorian's shot had been blocked, Hollands arrived to plant a crisp right-foot shot into the bottom corner of the net.

Yeovil - who were taunted with chants of "you're going down with the Bournemouth" and "can we play you every week?" - squandered two glorious chances to level, with Scott Guyett heaing wide of a gaping goal and Simon Church lifting his shot over the crossbar.

Referee Gavin Ward turned down a strong penalty appeal after Terrell Forbes's gloved hands had blatantly shoved Jo Kuffour in the back before Vokes's effort all but killed off the hopelessly out of form visitors.

The pick of the second-half chances saw Scott Flinders parry Pitman's strike, while Cherries goalkeeper David Forde produced a save for the cameras to push Lloyd Owusu's header over the crossbar and also superbly clawed away a Jean Francois Christophe effort.

Despite his team's abject display, Yeovil boss Russell Slade seems to know where their deficiencies lie: "We don't score enough goals, we've got to have more conviction in the box and we've simply got to tighten up at the back."

Who was it who once said it is a simple game, complicated only by players?