We must stay at full throttle says boss Alan

Manager Alan Connell watched his AFC Bournemouth young guns ease to another comprehensive victory before telling them to keep their feet on the gas in every game.

Doubles from Christian Saydee and Euan Pollock, coupled with goals from Jake Adams and Connor Kurran-Browne, saw the Cherries breeze into the second round of the EFL Youth Alliance Cup.

The 6-0 scoreline against the Glovers added to two 5-0 wins and a 1-1 draw in their first three games in the EFL Youth Alliance and brought their goal tally to 17 for and just one against.

Cherries raced into a 3-0 lead inside 14 minutes and could have had a hatful by half-time had it not been for the heroics of Yeovil goalkeeper Kacper Kowalczyk.

And although the visitors rallied during a spirited second-half showing, there was no way back for them after the Cherries had hit them for six by the 62^nd minute.

Connell told afcb.co.uk: “We had a really fast start and I thought the play-and-run element to our game was really pleasing.

“We were short, sharp and incisive around their box and I thought we were going to score every time we went forward.

“I was really pleased with the intensity we showed at the start and we were clinical in the first half-an-hour.

“It was difficult to maintain that intensity throughout but we challenged the boys to keep a clean sheet in the second half and they did that and added two more goals.

“We got a bit sloppy in the second half with regards to moving the ball and looking after it, especially when Yeovil sat in and made it a bit more difficult for us. There is still lots to work on but I was happy with the day’s work.”

Connell added: “We have lots of friendlies against category one teams and they give the boys different types of challenges.

“We just try to remind them that we need to be at full throttle in every game, no matter who it’s against.

“It’s just a reminder of standards and putting some perspective on some of the performances and scorelines.

“We have tough games in our league and made it more comfortable for ourselves with some of our play against Yeovil.

“No matter who we play, we must be spot on with our standards and with what we’re trying to achieve. We’re implementing the club philosophy game in, game out, both in and out of possession.

“With the squad this season, there isn’t a lot between the players so they are all pushing each other. There will be times when the team is freshened up but, ultimately, the ones who are doing well will play.

“They have stepped out of schoolboy football now and are in full-time professional football. The competition-for-places element is really important and that’s got to be a real incentive to drive them on.”  

Saydee maintained his impressive start to the season by taking his goal tally to six, the striker converting Brooklyn Genesini’s low cross after three minutes and firing home from a tight angle to make it 3-0 in the 14^th minute.

Sandwiched between his double, Adams pounced on the loose ball to score the Cherries’ second after Euan Pollock’s shot had been superbly saved by Kowalczyk in the seventh minute.

Yeovil’s Polish goalkeeper made top-drawer saves to prevent Genesini, Saydee and Pollock from increasing the Cherries’ lead but was powerless to stop the hosts extending their advantage in the 37^th minute.

A quickly taken free-kick ended with Saydee touching the ball into the path of Pollock who made no mistake, the same player making it 5-0 just three minutes into the second half after meeting Kurran-Browne’s driven, low cross.

Kurran-Browne was rewarded for his endeavours with a goal after 62 minutes, even though a deflection left Kowalczyk helpless, while Saydee went close to completing his hat-trick when he clipped a long-range effort narrowly over the crossbar.

AFC Bournemouth: Terrell, Genesini, Greenwood, Burgess, Channell (Roberts, 67), Bertrand, Kurran-Browne (Murray, 67), Gray, Pollock (Seddon, 67), Saydee, Adams. Unused subs: Gidaree, Besant (g/k).