AFC Bournemouth
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The AFC Bournemouth under-18s let a two-goal lead slip as they lost 3-2 away to Exeter City in the Youth Alliance league on Wednesday.
The Cherries took the lead 20 minutes in when some clever combination play between Jake Adams and Euan Pollock let the former strike home from the edge of the box, and the advantage was doubled 15 minutes later when Matt Burgess found Pollock with a searching ball over the top, the front man slotting home the resulting one on one.
Exeter grabbed a lifeline early in the second period when they scored a penalty after a handball and within five minutes of the restart the match was level, the Grecians dispossessing the visitors in the final third and scoring from the edge of the box.
The turnaround was then complete when Exeter scored a winner from just inside the area with 20 minutes left to play, the Cherries unable to respond.
After the match, manager Alan Connell spoke to afcb.co.uk about the positives of the first-half display as well as the negatives of the second.
"After our performance and result at the weekend we were hoping to build on that today," he said. "We had a tricky start but we found our rhythm ten minutes in, got our passing game going and started to cause Exeter problems.
"I thought we dominated the half, created some good chances and scored two really well taken goals, and I was pleased with our shape out of possession.
"Coming in at half time I was asking for more of the same, knowing that Exeter would show a reaction and come out at us.
"We didn't ever get to grips with that. As good as the first half was, in the second half we were passive, lacked leadership, lacked personality when the going got tough and when things started to go against us we didn't do enough.
"Exeter gathered momentum, you could sense that, and we struggled to wrestle that back in the game. We were too passive all over the pitch and didn't do enough with or without the ball in the second half.
"More importantly, we didn't do enough from within, we didn't show enough and we got punished.
"The boys have overall done a lot of good things this season but this was nowhere near the standards we've set and what we expect from them. It's a reality check and it's important that we respond individually and collectively and I look forward to seeing that.
"We had to respond earlier in the season after going out of the FA Youth Cup so it's an opportunity show what we're made of, which we'll be aiming to do against Forest Green on Saturday."