AFC Bournemouth
Alan Connell felt there were learning points for his under-18s following their friendly with West Ham United.
With the league visit of Newport County postponed, the Cherries instead headed for Essex to take on the Hammers at their Little Heath Sports Ground.
Baylin Johnson gave his team the lead with a sumptuous volley on 26 minutes, however, the category one opposition went on to complete a turnaround and win the clash 2-1.
Connell told afcb.co.uk following the game: “I’m really pleased with the performance overall. I thought we created good chances, we passed the ball well and played out under a high press from West Ham.
“We created chances off the back of that but the criticism, if there is one, is that we’d like to be more clinical with the chances that we had.
“Overall, it was a really worthwhile game to have, playing against a well-established category one academy. It was a really good day for us, development-wise; there’s loads we can take from it.”
He added: “Defensively, there were lessons that we need to learn because we were a little bit wide open at times.
“We’ll review that and make sure that we tighten up as we have in our recent league games.”
The fixture against the Irons saw eight first-year scholars feature for the under-18s, with one coming off the bench and the other seven starting.
While the friendly was a break from league and cup action, Connell still felt there was an opportunity for those featuring less frequently.
“We had a lot of first-year scholars starting today and the fact that a lot of them that needed it got 90 minutes means they’re in decent condition,” he said.
“It’s up to those boys to get in the team and it’s up to those boys in the team to stay in the team.
“This is the professional development phase, where you start to streamline it towards looking a little more like what a first team might look like.
“Competition for places is what happens in elite sport, so the players have got to embrace that and enjoy that challenge.”
Attention now turns to next weekend for the young Cherries as they travel to face Exeter City in the EFL Youth Alliance on Saturday 29th October (11am kick-off).
The coach said on the upcoming clash: “We’re going quite well in the league and it’s another opportunity against a very good academy.
“We always have tough games against Exeter, so we’re going to need to prepare right in the week and make sure that we build on the recent good work that we’ve put in.”
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