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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Kieran King

Kieffer Moore on remarkable rise from non-league to goalscoring Premier League debut

As Premier League debuts go, they do not get much better than scoring and helping your side to all three points on their return to the top-flight.

That is exactly what happened to Kieffer Moore, who struck Bournemouth 's second goal in their 2-0 win over Aston Villa last Saturday. The Welshman headed home Lloyd Kelly's cross in the 80th minute after Jefferson Lerma gave the Cherries the lead early on.

It capped off a wonderful performance from 30-year-old Moore, who was named as the Player of the Match for his efforts. He led the line superbly and caused the Villa back-line plenty of problems, giving new £28million signing Diego Carlos a hard start to life in English football.

Reflecting on a memorable day, Moore said: "I look back at that with good memories and what I did to get to that point, to cap it off with a goal was amazing. But that is in the past now, I can put that to the back of my mind and move on to the next game and the next goal."

Moore has endured a tough ride to the top, having started his senior career at sixth tier Truro City in the National League South. He earned himself a big-money move to Yeovil Town in 2013 upon the club's promotion to the Championship.

Kieffer Moore in action for Yeovil Town against Manchester United (Getty Images)

The 6"5 target man scored just nine goals in 58 appearances for the Glovers, before making the switch to Norwegian side Viking in August 2015. Moore returned to England just six months later and had spells at the likes of Forest Green, Ipswich Town, Barnsley and Cardiff City, before his move to Bournemouth was confirmed in January.

It proved to be a frustrating start to life on the south coast for Moore, however, after the forward missed two months with a foot injury. He made an instant impact on his return to the side and netted the goal to take Bournemouth back to the Premier League - in the penultimate game of the campaign against Nottingham Forest.

When explaining his journey to the top-flight, Moore said: "A lot of hard work has been put in to get to this point, a lot of missed opportunities at the same time, but I think it was worth the sacrifices, it was worth everything I did, all the behind-closed-doors stuff. Everything people do not see in the public.

How many goals will Kieffer Moore score this season? Let us know in the comments below!

Kieffer Moore scored 25 goals in 66 appearances for Cardiff City (Getty Images)

"I really did give everything to get to this point. Thankfully I am here now and I’m not going to let the opportunity slip, I’m going to take it with two hands."

He added: "All the sacrifices I made through social events, missing people’s parties, birthdays and not being able to see my family as much as I would like to. Those kinds of things are what I missed out on."

Bournemouth were tipped by many as the favourites to go down at the start of the season alongside fellow newly-promoted club Fulham. But both sides picked up positive results on the opening weekend, with the Cottagers drawing 2-2 with Liverpool.

Chris Mepham and Jefferson Lerma congratulate Kieffer Moore after the forward's goal against Aston Villa (Getty Images)

Although it is only one game, Moore is determined to keep proving the doubters wrong as the Cherries look to stay in the Premier League. He also added that it is a positive that his side go into matches as the underdog, with Bournemouth next in action against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

"I see it as a good thing that people are doubting us, it is always good to be the underdogs, there’s a little bit more of a bite," he said. "People are going to doubt you, they are going to think you are not up to the cause and it should only give you extra motivation when you come to these stadiums and games."

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