Yeovil Town slumped to their second successive loss as Bournemouth inflicted a 3-0 defeat on Gary Johnson’s men at the Goldsands Stadium on Boxing Day.

The Glovers winless streak against the Cherries was extended to eight matches thanks to a brace from Matt Ritchie and a powerful effort from Eunan O’Kane, in 15 prolific second half minutes.

Manager Gary Johnson made three changes coming into the match – two enforced – with the suspended Luke Ayling and injured Byron Webster being replaced by Kevin Dawson and Liam Fontaine respectively, whilst Ed Upson returned to the starting eleven in place of Liam Davis who dropped to the bench.

The hosts were quickest out of the blocks and drew the first save of the afternoon when Andrew Surman’s header from Ryan Fraser’s dinked cross was palmed away by Marek Stech.

Johnson’s side responded almost immediately however when Ishmael Miller powered past two Bournemouth defenders wide on the right before forcing Lee Camp to save with his legs from a tight angle, in what was a frantic opening quarter of an hour.

After enjoying the lion’s share of possession the Cherries spurned the best opportunity of the first half just past the 20 minute mark when Jamie McAllister’s slip allowed Lewis Grabban a clear run on goal, but despite rounding Stech Bournemouth’s top scorer couldn’t fire past the covering Liam Fontaine.

At the other end both Miller and Joel Grant narrowly missed connecting with dangerous crosses from the left, whilst a succession of corners tested the hosts’ resolve.

Eddie Howe’s side enjoyed a flurry of chances just before half time with Yeovil’s Czech stopper denying both Daniels and Grabban, before Elliott Ward’s goal from a corner in first half stoppage time was disallowed for a foul on Shane Duffy.

Bournemouth weren’t to be denied for long however and five minutes after the restart the diminutive Ritchie put the hosts 1-0 up.

Fraser’s persistence down the left flank was rewarded with a loose ball falling to former Swindon winger Ritchie who emphatically lashed home from the edge of the box.

The Cherries opener only whet their appetite and Bournemouth doubled their lead three minutes before the hour mark when Ritchie’s drive from 25 yards cruelly flicked off of Duffy’s head and beat the wrong-footed Stech.

Gary Johnson reacted by making a triple substitution, introducing James Hayter, Liam Davis and Sam Foley for Joe Edwards, Jamie McAllister and John Lundstram respectively.

However, before the newly introduced Yeovil personnel could impact the game the Dorset outfit fired home a third goal in fifteen minutes when O’Kane drove past a number of Glovers defenders before shooting past Stech from the edge of the box with a well placed effort.

In a bid to get back into the match Yeovil threw numerical caution to the wind which resulted in Upson striking the post and Grant stinging the hands of Camp, but Bournemouth saw out a comfortable 3-0 win to dampen the Glovers’ Christmas cheer.