Rovers were knocked out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy by AFC Bournemouth this evening for the second season running.

The Pirates slumped to a 3-0 defeat at the Fitness First Stadium, in a fairly disappointing contest on the south coast.

There were sporadic chances for both sides throughout the 90 minutes, although in all honesty it was Bournemouth that looked more like the higher division outfit.

Rickie Lambert forced an early save from Shwan Jalal and then the same player heading over from the resulting corner.

Former Rovers midfielder Sammy Igoe blasted narrowly over the crossbar, and then the lively Scott Wagstaff delivered a superb cross into the path of Brett Pitman who was inches away from diverting the ball home.

Steve Phillips saved well from Danny Hollands as Bournemouth looked for an early advantage, before Chris Lines saw his attempt at the other end blocked.

Steve Elliott needed to clear off his own line after Pitman's shot from a pass over the top had left Phillips in no man's land with the ball heading towards an empty net, and then the Bournemouth man was unlucky seconds later from the rebound as he could only find the side-netting.

The home side eventually edged themselves into a 1-0 lead with seven minutes of the first half left on the clock.

Darren Anderton showed some neat touches on the flank before picking out Jeff Goulding, and the striker's header from six yards out left Phillips with little chance to save.

The first half ended with Bournemouth continuing to ask more of the questions, with Wagstaff going close to making it 2-0 from 15 yards out, only for his powerful effort to go wide.

The second half was a case of more of the same as Bournemouth looked sharper all over the pitch, and continued to test the Rovers back line.

Goulding headed over from 12 yards, before Rovers conjured up a couple of shots from distance that saw Lambert and then Jeff Hughes fail to hit the target.

Elliott headed wide from a quick Stuart Campbell free-kick, before the Cherries doubled their lead midway through the second half.

Josh McQuoid showed good skills as he entered the Rovers box, and his pass to Igoe saw the former Rovers man fire home emphatically from six yards out.

Substitute Sean Rigg couldn't keep his shot down after being picked out by a Darryl Duffy ball, and then the outcome was put beyond any doubt with 14 minutes to go as Bournemouth scored their third of the game.

Goalkeeper Jalal punted a long ball forward from his own box, and after the entire Rovers defence failed to track the flight of the ball, Hollands showed the composure needed to nip in and touch a deft shot beyond Phillips.

Igoe saw a volley deflected wide, before Warren Cummings and Jason Pearce showed superb determination at the other end to make last-gasp blocks on shots from Ben Hunt and Lambert.

Chris Lines aimed well wide as Rovers looked for a late consolation, but come the final whistle, Bournemouth were more than worthy of their victory.

The performance was by far the worst of the season so far from Rovers, with little in the way of an attacking threat shown throughout the entire 90 minutes as Bournemouth deservedly booked their place in round two of the competition.

Reported by Ian Cole