AFC Bournemouth under-18s battled hard but were defeated by Sheffield Wednesday at Middlewood Training Ground.

James Lowy named a young squad with seven first-year scholars starting, with some senior members of the squad travelling with the development squad.

His squad made a bright start to the game, moving the ball around confidently and at speed but found themselves behind after just seven minutes.

Wednesday’s forward Moses Devlan was the player to get the opening goal, receiving the ball on the right and picking out the bottom corner with a drilled effort.

He should have doubled his tally just ten minutes later, finding himself in a shooting position inside the area but blasting his effort over the top.

The home side were beginning to highlight their capabilities and grabbed their second of the game on the half-hour mark. Dom Weston, who was a lively presence on the wing, finished off a clever move with a sweeping finish.

Bournemouth’s Malachi Ogunleye was unable to continue at that point and Lowy was forced into his first change of the morning, bringing on Harold William.

The Cherries began to settle more and the chances for the home side began to stem as the game approached half-time.

Jarvis Thornton thought he’d caught out Mack Allen with an inventive shot from nearly the half-way line, but his effort landed the wrong side of the post. Moments later, Jack Holman tried to repay the favour with a drilled shot from a similar location, forcing a save from Wednesday’s goalkeeper.

However, Wednesday were alive following the break and should have extended their lead on several occasions.

Allen was forced into making a number of saves, including brilliantly tipping Weston’s deflected shot onto the bar, while Devlan’s powerful drive lacked accuracy.

Devlan was beginning to be frustrated by the Cherries defence, eventually finding half-a-yard of space inside the area but smashing his effort over the bar.

However, a penalty did provide the opportunity for the home team to seal the game. Thornton was the player to step forward and coolly slotted into the centre of the goal, leaving Allen stranded to his right.

Substitute Voldi Mbaye’s moment of magic in the final moments of the game, as he weaved past several players and fired home, extended the deficit.

The Cherries continued to huff and puff for the remainder of the fixture but were unable to get a consolation, slipping to a 4-0 defeat.