Carroll thrilled with youth team's composure at Canford

Daniel Adu-Adjei ensured the Cherries were ahead within ten seconds after a smart move from kick-off, before two own goals helped grant the hosts victory. 

It saw the side jump ahead of Plymouth to top the league standings with one game remaining, Saturday's hosts now in pole position to take the trophy on the final day. 

Speaking with afcb.co.uk, Carroll shared his delight at the performance and admitted that his side can learn plenty from such a tight encounter. 

"I'm really pleased. Obviously, the boys have set themselves the target of winning the league and in order to do that they needed to win today, so to get that win was very pleasing.

"It was a really good learning experience for them as well because it was such a close one. We talked about playing with intensity and that's about having a sense of fire, as such.

"It's also important to almost have ice in your veins, to be composed enough to play our football and pick passes out, even when the opposition are flying in and the game is getting a bit tasty with some of the tackles or some of the verbals out there.

"I thought there were spells in the second half where we did that really well. We had a bit of a rocky patch where we went quite direct because of their high press - we kept giving the ball away but the boys found solutions to it really well. 

"The first goal was something we worked on in training yesterday. We were really pleased with that one. We had the same thing last week, we wanted to start fast and stamp our authority on the game if we could, so it was the perfect start." 

The manager, who was enjoying his first home game in the dugout, soon turned his attention to Tuesday, with a win over Swindon being all that is needed to finish top of the Youth Alliance League table. 

"It's a quick turnaround and we're really looking forward to it," continued Carroll.

"They're going to be tough and I think they've won their last three games by scoring five goals, so it will be a really hard game for us.

"We definitely haven't won the league yet, but the lovely thing is that it's in our hands so we're really looking forward to it." 

Read the match report here.