AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth suffered their first EFL Youth Alliance defeat of the season, going down 1-0 against Swindon Town at Stanley Park on Saturday.
The Cherries created a hatful of presentable chances and should have had the points wrapped up well before the Robins scored the only goal in the dying seconds.
And it was a classic smash and grab from the hosts with substitute George Alston coming off the bench to bag the winner deep into added time.
In a frantic finale, Remy Rees-Dottin’s thunderous drive came crashing back off the crossbar, while the Cherries appealed in vain for a penalty following a handball.
Although the Robins were reduced to ten men when Archie Milne saw red for bringing down Ashley Clarke in the closing stages, they held on to register their first league win of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The tone was set as early as the second minute when Swindon goalkeeper Redman Evans raced off his line to clear the danger after Jonny Stuttle had threatened to give the Cherries an early lead.
Had Stuttle scored, it may have opened the floodgates as the visitors, buoyed by a hat-trick of league wins, looked to condemn the Robins to a fourth straight defeat.
However, and as so often transpires, when one team fails to take its chances, the other grows in confidence and a nasty sting in the tail can ensue.
Alan Connell’s team took a while to find their feet and were relieved to see a header from Josh Keyes ruled out for offside in the seventh minute.
Finn Tonks and Keyes then traded shooting opportunities which both missed the target before the Cherries began to gain a foothold.
In the final five minutes of the first half, no fewer than four chances fell by the wayside, Karlos Gregory firing wide, Evans saving with his legs from Stuttle’s low shot, Max Kinsey-Wellings heading Lewis Brown’s free kick into the side netting and a Baylin Johnson effort diverted past his own post by defender Ben Boulden.
Cherries followers among a healthy crowd at Stanley Park – where the playing surface resembled a billiard table – must have been hoping their team could leave the Robins needing snookers in the second half.
And but for a touch more finesse in front of goal and notwithstanding the heroics of Swindon goalkeeper Evans, the visitors may well have been out of sight by the time the hosts administered their coup de grace.
Michael Dacosta Gonzalez stretched to head wide from a Johnson centre and Stuttle totally missed his kick having been teed up by Gregory.
Evans then took star billing, parrying from Stuttle after Charlie Osborne had assisted before making the save of the game to keep out a Kinsey-Wellings header from point-blank range, Brown again the architect.
A relative spectator for much of the contest, Cherries goalkeeper Ollie Camis saved comfortably from Abu Kanu and also pouched Shyam Taank’s long-range free kick.
Cherries’ luck was summed up when a handball in the penalty area was missed by referee Andrew Bower who was unsighted before substitute Rees-Dottin saw his blistering drive come crashing back off the crossbar.
An eventful period of injury time saw Milne receive a straight red card for bringing down Clarke who would have had a clear run on goal.
And although Camis appeared to have saved the day when he thwarted Kanu after the striker had gone through one-on-one, there was no reprieve in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Substitute Alston took aim with his left peg, his shot cannoning off the post before finding the back of the net, the goal understandably sparking jubilant celebrations among home supporters.
THE LINE-UP
Ollie Morgan was drafted into the starting line-up as Connell made one enforced change from the defeat at Reading in the Under-18 Professional Development League Cup a fortnight ago.
Morgan replaced Archie Harris who sustained a knee injury during the Hampshire Senior Cup victory against Folland Sports on Tuesday. Rees-Dottin was named on the bench.
Seven players who featured against Follands – Tonks, Kinsey-Wellings, Brown, Stuttle, Dacosta Gonzalez, Johnson and Gregory – started against the Robins.
AFC Bournemouth: Camis, Tonks, Morgan, Gregory (Rees-Dottin, 67), Eagle (Redknapp, 90), Kinsey-Wellings, Johnson, Brown, Stuttle (Clarke, 63), Dacosta Gonzalez, Osborne. Unused subs: Holman, Allan (g/k).
WHAT IT MEANS
Having taken a maximum nine points from their first three league games, this first defeat of the season saw the Cherries toppled from the summit of the South West division of the EFL Youth Alliance.
Rivals Plymouth Argyle displaced them after triumphing 2-0 against Forest Green Rovers on Saturday, the Pilgrims climbing above the Cherries on goal difference.
WHO'S NEXT
The under-18s play their rescheduled EFL Youth Alliance League Cup second-round tie away to MK Dons on Wednesday (1pm kick-off).
And on Saturday, Connell’s team return to league action when they host Cheltenham Town at Canford Park Arena (11.30am kick-off).
Some members of Connell’s squad could be included in the Cherries’ Premier League Cup group game against Derby County at Vitality Stadium on Friday (7pm kick-off).
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