The Irish striker is on loan at the Championship club for the rest of the season.
Shane Long made his Bournemouth debut today after arriving on loan at the club on deadline day.
Birmingham were the opposition and his first start, while not a scoring one, coincided with Bournemouth’s first league win since the beginning of January.
Fellow Irish international Scott Hogan managed a brace for Birmingham but his contribution wasn’t enough to collect what would have been a valuable 3 points.
Instead, Arnaut Danjuma, Jack Wilshere and Philip Billing scored for Bournemouth in a 3-2 win.
Long’s playtime had steadily decreased for Southampton over the past couple of seasons so his move to Bournemouth couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Irish international only started once in the Premier League this season, having been forced to sit on the bench for much of the campaign due to the offensive partnership of Che Adams and Danny Ings.
Long wasn’t the only Irishman to make a move to the Championship during the January transfer window.
Conor Hourihane and Jayson Molumby also completed loan moves to Swansea City and Preston North End respectively.
Both are thriving in their new environments, with Hourihane impressing in particular.
The Cork native has scored 3 goals in 3 games for Swansea since moving, including a brilliant effort from outside the box in a man of the match performance last night.
With World Cup qualification games quickly approaching in March, Ireland badly need an in-form striker to lead the line.
James Collins or Scott Hogan look the most likely candidates as it stands, both have been starting regularly at Championship level and managed to find the net for their respective clubs today.
Given a good run of games, though, Shane Long could find himself as Ireland’s undisputed number nine again.
