U18s claim big Cheltenham win
AFC Bournemouth
- Attendance:
- 0
The AFC Bournemouth under-18s picked up a 5-0 win over Cheltenham Town in their latest league fixture on Saturday.
Injuries meant manager Alan Connell fielded a young side, with five under-16s starting the match at Canford Arena and three more appearing during the 90 minutes.
Jake Adams began the scoring as his forward run allowed him to get on the end of a Ferdinand Okoh pass and lift the ball over the 'keeper.
The lead was doubled when Marcus Daws cut inside onto his right foot and whipped the ball into the top corner.
Midfielder Okoh, playing his first game in a month, then broke up play, linked well with Baylin Johnson and received the ball back to make it three before the interval.
Two late goals came in the second period, first Johnson striking low across goal for Kian Tydeman, on his under-18s debut, to arrived at the back post to finish, before Daws struck his second in the dying moments with a strike from the edge of the area to complete the comprehensive scoreline.
The Cherries were able to dominate throughout, creating chances without being overly troubled in their defending.
After the match, Connell offered his reaction to afcb.co.uk: "I was really interested to watch us perform, with a team that hadn't played together before.
"It gave us a good chance to look at the younger ones and it's getting to the point now where the team's starting to look as it will next season - as we have a lot of our second-year scholars injured. This is allowing us to have one eye on that and giving us the chance to give the younger ones opportunities.
"I was delighted with the performance, we spoke before the match about making sure we met the expectations of the Academy and I think the boys did that.
"We passed the ball really well and had that intent to take the game to the opposition; what pleased me was the consistency in our work, both in and out of possession, and I think the boys got their rewards today for playing a lot of intelligent football.
"That culminated in scoring some good goals and putting in a performance that deserved to win the game for us.
"I was also pleased from a concentration point of view as it's been a while since we kept a clean sheet, it was a game where we were largely untroubled and had to make sure our standards remained high to the very end.
"All-in-all it was a good day, a good experience for the younger players. I was delighted for Ferdi (Okoh), back in after a month out and it looked like he hadn't been away, he'll be delighted with his goal as well.
"It was particularly pleasing for 'keeper Ollie Camis to keep a clean sheet on his first start for the youth team, he handled himself really well, and it was also a really nice moment for Kian Tydeman to score on his debut for the side.
"A really pleasing day but we know there's lots to work on as we move forwards."