A hat-trick from Brandon Goodship as well as goals from Sam Kirkwood and Charlie Davis ensured that despite brief moments of uncertainty, the boys capitalised on their dominance and recorded their biggest win of the season so far.
The Cherries started the game brightly - dominating possession and creating chances - but weren't able to properly test the visiting keeper. As the first half progressed nerves crept in to their performance, but two goals from Goodship gave the home team a cushion at the break.
Despite an early reply, Hereford never really threatened and a series of impressive strikes ensured the Cherries secured their first win in the Alliance Cup this season. Goodship completed his hat-trick and substitute Sam Kirkwood scored an impressive volley to make it four.
The pick of the goals was arguably the fifth by Charlie Davis - the youngster took the ball in the Hereford half, cut on to his weaker foot and beat the keeper to put the ball in the back of the net.
“We were pretty comfortable throughout the game," said youth coach, Ross Embleton. "But it was nice for the boys to play in a match where they were in control and scored a lot of goals - which I suppose is what football is all about.
“We were a bit nervy at 2-1 but the boys kicked on and we really punished them late on.”
A noticeable inclusion in the side was Josh Carmichael, who has been absent for the past three weeks due to first team duty.
Embleton explained that Carmichael’s inclusion was entirely of the player's motivation.
“Josh’s reaction when he was told he wasn’t in the senior squad on Friday was to come out and ask me if he could play for us on the Saturday.
"Sometimes when you have been left out of the first team squad you can feel sorry for yourself or take it in the wrong way, but he didn’t.
“His reaction was that he wanted to play for us and I bit his hands off because he is a good player. I thought he was joking at first, but when I realised he wasn’t, it was a no brainer to pick him.”
Despite disappointing the player who Carmichael replaced, Embleton explained that the decision can only benefit individual players in the long-term.
“What it does is show the boys a good example of what they need to do to get to where Josh has been, so it was refreshing to have him in there.
“They were definitely pleased to have him back, but the flip side is that for the first time this season we have had nearly a full squad. So with an extra one in Josh, it meant another was unlikely to get on the pitch.
“A lot of the boys have never experienced missing out on a game, so for their education it teaches them how to deal with that disappointment of not being in the team.”
Embleton was also keen to attribute the full squad he had to pick from to the hard work of his backroom staff – particularly physio Jonny King.
“It definitely gives us a boost when we have a full squad to pick from. This is largely down to the work that Jonny does with the boys.”
“With most of the injuries we have had, the boys have come back a good ten days to two weeks before they are due to, so that is a massive bonus for us.”