IT was the party Wanderers were never invited to, and in the end, one they couldn’t wait to leave.

Bournemouth – the club who just six years earlier were scrapping to save their lives in League Two – are heading for the bright lights of the Premier League, and they thoroughly deserve it.

Neil Lennon had been belligerent in the build-up, insisting his side would not roll over for anyone and they didn’t – they were simply trampled, even before going down to 10 men when Dorian Dervite was sent off.

Marc Pugh, Matt Ritchie and Callum Wilson scored the goals on a momentous night for the South Coast club, who even had the luxury of missing a penalty.

Fingers are bound to be pointed at the manager’s decision to move to a back three, and one thing is for certain, if he intends to play this system next season he will need to sign a raft of players who look more comfortable.

Lennon made three changes to the side that had drawn at Brentford, with youngster Oscar Threlkeld dropping to the bench along with midfielder Giles Coke. Paddy McCarthy was missing with ankle ligament damage.

Mark Davies was back in the starting line-up for the first time since November, while Barry Bannan and Neil Danns returned after their club suspension.

The Wanderers boss had warned against Bournemouth making a fast start and his prediction was entirely correct. Had it not been for Adam Bogdan’s considerable frame, the Cherries could have been popping the champagne corks inside 15 minutes.

First Wilson shrugged off Tim Ream’s challenge on the left far too easily, cutting in to drill a low shot blocked by the Whites keeper.

Ritchie then found Bogdan in the way after some great build-up on the edge of the box from ex-Bury winger Pugh and Wilson.

Wanderers looked like being swamped entirely but once they had started to keep hold of the ball in midfield, they slowly began to build a bit of rhythm.

The night might have gone very differently had Adam Le Fondre not wasted a glorious opportunity when he stole in on Dervite’s penalty area knock-down but couldn’t get enough on his stooped header to guide the ball past Artur Boruc.

Just when the initial fizz had started to leave the game, it was Bogdan to the rescue again.

The Hungarian got fingertips on the ball to deny Wilson, then got a strong hand to stop a stinging effort from Ritchie in its tracks.

To complete the hat-trick, he then pushed another pile-driver from Yann Kermorgant over the bar to leave the home fans wondering what their side had to do to make the breakthrough.

Lennon must have been willing the minutes away on the big clock to his right but with six still to play in the half, his worst fears were realised.

Ritchie crossed from the right, finding Pugh in an incomprehensible amount of space 10 yards from goal. His shimmy beat Feeney all ends up, and he passed the ball through a non-existent challenge from Dervite to open the scoring.

The lid came off the Goldsands Stadium, pre-match nerves now completely disappeared.

Wanderers had no answer at all, their back three now looking completely lost against the movement of the Bournemouth front four.

Whereas the first goal came from a weakness down the right, it was the left side that was shown up six minutes later as the lead was doubled.

Tom Walker and Dean Moxey were bypassed by some slick passing between Harry Arter and Kermorgant, with the Frenchman laying-off for Ritchie to pass home his 13th goal of the campaign.

Bannan, who had been bypassed completely in the first half, nearly made things interesting immediately after the break when his low shot deflected just wide, Likewise, had Feeney put his header on target when Walker picked him out with a decent cross, a few nerves might have started fluttering again.

In truth, the celebrations had already started; it was just a matter of how many cherries went on the cake.

Wilson went close to a goal his work-rate deserved, dragging an angled shot just wide of Bogdan’s post before Kermorgant brought out the party tricks, attempting to lob the Wanderers keeper from 35 yards and very nearly succeeding.

Wanderers looked like they couldn’t wait to get out of the Goldsands Stadium. Dervite got a head start, scything down Wilson eight yards out to get himself a red card and hand his former Charlton team-mate Kermorgant a chance to make it three from the spot.

Thankfully, the Cherries striker blasted his penalty wastefully into the fans behind the goal – an act which will go down as a minor postscript in an otherwise historic night for the home side.

A third goal did arrive 10 minutes from time, 10-man Wanderers picked apart down the right before Wilson capped off an excellent individual night with a crisp close-range finish.

Fans were on the pitch a minute before the final whistle – but from a Whites perspective it was a case of “thank God it’s all over.”