AFC Bournemouth
Wednesday’s match winner Matt Burgess reveled in his last-gasp goal to win the Youth Alliance tie at Plymouth, despite not having played his best game on a tricky surface.
The midfielder’s 95th minute winner saw the Cherries through 2-1 against Argyle, with Burgess talking afcb.co.uk through his magical late moment.
He said: “The ball was worked nicely out to the right side and I thought to hold my run because I saw Euan (Pollock) making his forward run, so I held back out as the defenders all became attracted to the ball. Euan laid me off with a lovely flick – that was my opportunity and I took it well.
"It meant a lot. It’s a cup game, we wanted to win and to score that last-minute goal is what every one of us works for.
“It shows the boys’ character really well, we’re always fighting to the end. It paid off with the goal and I think we deserved that.”
Burgess was told by manager Alan Connell after the game that his winner came after 90 minutes where his number eight was at times unable to produce his best form, an acknowledgment accepted by Burgess.
“I knew myself that I hadn’t played as well as I can,” he said. “But I worked hard and got my results at the end of the game with the winning goal.
“The pitch didn’t help us at all, with the way we want to play we want to get the ball down – but the pitch didn't really allow us to do that.
“We had to find solutions to work our way around that and I think we did. We dug in well and got the result.
“They were playing a high press which made it difficult for us to play out, even more with the pitch, so on occasions we went long to give them a different problem.”
After a tough match against Plymouth in midweek the tables are set to be turned at the weekend as Argyle will next be welcomed to Canford Arena to take on the Cherries again, this time in the league.
“It’s going to be another difficult game, we know that," said Burgess of Saturday's fixture. "They’ll be up for it after we’ve just beaten them, but it will be a nicer pitch to play on and if we can get the ball down and play the way we want to play we'll have a good chance."
