CHERRIES midfielder Ryan Christie admitted that there were a “few frustrated boys” at half-time during his side’s remarkable comeback victory over Luton Town, the Scot hailing the character and personality shown by his teammates in a 4-3 win.
Trailing by three at the break, Cherries looked dead and buried against a Luton side that had executed their counter-attacking gameplan to perfection.
But Dominic Solanke’s brilliant solo effort five minutes into the second period started to turn the tide, with Illia Zabarnyi reducing the deficit further on the hour mark.
Antoine Semenyo then produced two goals of his own to complete one of the Premier League’s finest comebacks, Cherries becoming just one of three teams to turn a 3-0 margin at half-time into a win come the final whistle.
Speaking after the game, Scottish international Christie told the Daily Echo: “It was good, wasn’t it?
“At half time, I think there was a few frustrated boys, to say the least.
“But, to be fair the character that the boys showed to come out the second half.
“I think the first goal was a big one.
“And then trying to get the crowd behind us again, a bit of momentum.
“It’s a good night to remember here.”
Luton clearly came to Dean Court with a plan to exploit Cherries on the break, with Christie admitting that his side had seen the Hatters’ threats coming, even if they were unable to stop them.
“They were pretty clinical first half, especially on the counter attack,” continued the former Celtic man.
“It was frustrating because we knew that would be their main threat with the pace and power they've got.
“Then we just lacked a little bit of cutting edge, but fair play to the boys.
“I mean, at half-time the manager just said ‘can't do anything about the result right now, we just need to go out and show a bit of character and a bit personality, to try and get the ball to turn the game around.’
“You never know what can happen.
“It feels very nice to come out winners after that.”
Whilst Cherries now have a 17-day gap in fixtures, Christie’s next game will be with his national side after he was called up once again by Scotland.
The 29-year-old will hope to add to his 40 caps in friendlies against the Netherlands (Friday, March 22) and Northern Ireland (Tuesday, March 26).
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