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Cherries turn in gr-eight display

AFC Bournemouth under-16 girls chalked up their first win in the Junior Premier League after triumphing 8-3 against QPR in a pulsating encounter.

Despite falling behind early on, the Cherries drew level through Be-Be who netted after being played in by Elle.

Be-Be then turned provider for Mia to give the Cherries the lead in the 18th minute before Hannah H’s fantastic finish extended their advantage.

Goalkeeper Mollie and the Cherries back three stood firm against some testing through balls until the 43rd minute when QPR reduced the arrears.

The second half saw plenty of goals with Faith winning and converting a corner before QPR scored a well-taken goal.

But straight from the restart, the Cherries went further ahead when Be-Be got on the end of a defence-splitting pass from Freya to convert with a controlled finish.

Kitty then rifled home a half-volley from the edge of the box before Hannah H fired in from close range to put the Cherries firmly in the driving seat.

Be-Be completed the scoring on 76 minutes when she received the ball on the edge of the box and finished in the corner following a quick turn. 

The under-14 girls booked their place in the next round of the League Cup thanks to a convincing win over Havant & Waterlooville.

Playing with a high press, they put Havant on the back foot in the early stages with goals from Lucy and Anisha.

The Cherries’ dominance continued throughout the game and the team were able to provide many chances for striker Lucy to finish on eight individual goals.

Additional goals were scored by Alice, Yasmin and Holly as they set up a date with Mudeford in the next round.

The under-12 girls registered a 3-1 win over Winchester Kites to earn a crack at Winchester Kestrels in the next round of the League Cup.

Although Kites looked dangerous from the start, covering from Jess and Hettie at the back prevented their early efforts leading to a goal.

They did go ahead late in the first half but the Cherries were straight back in the game as Isobel scored a half-volley into the top corner to ensure the score remained level at half-time.

The Cherries had better possession in the second half and were rewarded when Kelcey scored a from outside the box to put them ahead.

This was quickly followed by the Cherries’ third and Isobel’s second goal of the game securing the 3-1 victory.

The under-10 girls progressed to the next round of the Hampshire League Cup after beating Mudeford.

Goals from Daisy, Isla, Zuzzana and Krystal secured the team’s place in the next round where they will face Overton Girls.

The AFC Bournemouth Powerchair team played their first MDUK Premiership fixtures, facing counterparts from Nottingham PFC, Aspire PFC, Brighton PFC and St George’s Knights.

On the Saturday, the Cherries faced Nottingham and Aspire.

They conceded two early goals against Nottingham before scoring their first league goal through Regan Kemp who, following a spell of good possession, netted an excellent finish from outside the box.

The second fixture was against last year’s runners-up Aspire PFC and this game proved good experience for the team who worked hard in defence and did well for the first ten minutes before conceding a goal halfway through the first half.

As the Cherries tried to push for an equaliser, they left space which was exploited by the experience of Aspire, who scored six goals in quick succession to win 7-0.

The Sunday fixtures saw the team face Brighton and St George’s Knights.

After playing Brighton in pre-season, the Cherries were hopeful for a positive result.

Ryan Skinner worked well with Kemp in defence, producing some fantastic saves to deny Brighton’s early chances.

However, Brighton made the most of one of their chances in the second half and won 1-0.

The final game of the weekend also ended in defeat as the Cherries lost 3-0 against established Premiership team St George’s Knights.