Bournemouth cruised to victory in the previous round, defeating League Two opposition Oldham 4-1. 

Before the game tonight, the Cherries knew they had a tough task on their hands against another side from League Two.

Crawley Town have loved an FA Cup run in recent years, and after demolishing Premier League side Leeds United 3-0 in this years third round.

Unfortunately for Crawley, the special run came to an end. 

It was a first start and first goal for Jack Wilshere as he buried a beauty to give Bournemouth  a first-half lead.

Crawley came to life in the second-half and equalised through Tom Nichols to make a game of it in the final half an hour. 

In the end it was heartbreak for Crawley though, as the man with hot interest from Premier League clubs, Josh King, buried another wonderful goal for Bournemouth to see them through to the fifth round.

  • Story of the match

The winner of this one would be taking a trip to the happy place in football, Burnley FC's Turf Moor.

Arnaut Danjuma Groenveld enjoyed a fair amount of the ball inside the first ten minutes as he looked like he was ready for the tasty affair on this wet Tuesday night. The first strike of the game came from Danjuma, as his shot forced Crawley goalkeeper Glenn Morris to force the ball away from his goal.

Bournemouth nearly took the lead inside the first 10 minutes, with Phillip Billing winning the Cherries a corner from his strike on goal, from the incoming corner, Billing moved into space where he met the ball freely to head onto Crawley’s post.

Jack Wilshere was making his first start for Bournemouth after joining the club over a week ago, and on 24 minutes, he opened his account for the Cherries. A wonderfully worked goal from the Championship side, as Danjuma found Josh King, who cheekily back-heeled to Wilshere, on his strong left foot he bended the ball past Morris to open the scoring and his account for Bournemouth.

Welshman David Brooks should’ve made it two, as he found Danjuma, Brooks then received the ball back onto his strong left foot, his effort then blocked by Jordan Tunnicliffe as he opted to go straight down the middle. Any of the corners and Brooks would've given Bournemouth  a comfortable lead.

Bournemouth dominated the first half, but by only taking a one goal lead, it left Crawley Town with all to play for in the second half.

It should have been game, set and match with minutes into the second half. A cross whipped in, fell to the head of Steve Cook, which was knocked on to Wilshere as he glared at a glorious opportunity to bag his second of the game, he drilled his effort straight at the chest of Morris.

An incredible chance came for Crawley to get back into the game, which came at the fault of Asmir Begovic, as he panicked from the pressure of Ashley Nadesan, he gifts the ball to the feet of Tom Nichols, but Begovic recovered quickly and was fast out of his goal to stop the effort and prevent Crawley from equalising.

Nichols had another opportunity as he got in front of Lloyd Kelly, the Bournemouth defender appeared to knock Nichols over, and the referee books Nichols for simulation, which seemed a very strange decision.

A minute later, and Crawley had sparked into life, and justice seemed to come for Nichols. Nadesan dipped the ball into the area, as substitute Josh Wright leaped ahead of Jack Stacey, the ball landed to the feet of Nichols who slotted the ball neatly past Begovic to tie the game up.

Bournemouth had fallen asleep, and Crawley seemed to be rejuvenated. Well, that can all can change in a matter of one single moment, as Bournemouth countered and got the second they couldn't seem to find all game. Another wonderful team goal for the Cherries, a filthy flick again involved in the goal from Brooks to Danjuma, who drove through the Crawley defence to find the feet of Josh King, he guided the ball into the bottom corner to put Bournemouth back ahead.

Crawley tried to push forward and create a chance but it wasn't looking their night. King had numerous chances in the final moments of the game to see Crawley off, but he couldn't take them, luckily for the Norwegian, Bournemouth got away with it and scraped themselves through to the fifth round.

  • Takeaways

Josh King's future needs to be decided...

The Norwegian got the winner tonight, and all round had a decent game for the Cherries. If Bournemouth want to be contenders in the Championship this season, it would be fantastic if they could hold onto him, and get him playing week in, week out again. 

If not, it would be wise that they have replacements in mind, because they seem to be a really dangerous attacking side with the likes of Danjuma and Brooks and with a healthy striker in the side, they could look real contenders for promotion back to the Premier League this season.

Crawley's heart and determination just wasn't enough...

The League Two side have worked their socks off to get to the fourth round of the FA Cup this season, they can walk off the field tonight proud of their achievements.

The Vitality Stadium is not an easy place to come, and on other day they may have come away singing into the next round. A strong Bournemouth defence prevented that as they stood firm tonight and kept Crawley from any real attacking threat.

  • Man of the match

Arnaut Danjuma Groenveld takes the award tonight, he was relentless going forward and was a real threat for 90 minutes. He deserved a goal, but he shown he was the playmaker of the side as he set up the winner to send his side through to the next round.