AFC Bournemouth Under-18s were forced to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw away to Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

AFC Bournemouth Under-18s were forced to settle for a point away to Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

The Cherries took the lead through a Jake Scrimshaw penalty on the half-hour mark, but a late Plymouth equaliser meant the points were shared.

Under-18s manager Alan Connell discussed the following topics with afcb.co.uk after the match:

THE PERFORMANCE

“We started the game okay but didn’t really get our passing going how we would like. As the half wore on we started to play better and moved the ball quicker and created chances. The penalty we scored settled us down and we gained confidence from there.

“At half-time I said I was pleased with the first half but that we needed to maintain concentration and see our job through and look to kill the game off with that all-important second goal.

“In the second half we were very good for 25 minutes and created a lot of chances, but just lacked the finishing touch. That caused us a problem later down the line when Plymouth equalised with probably their only shot on target with about 15 minutes to go.

“It was frustrating because we felt we had dominated the game, and one moment when we were just a little bit too open cost us. I felt we deserved to win, but I’m pleased with a lot of aspects of our play.

“Connor Kurran-Browne played well, as did Harvey Bertrand. For both of them, it was their first league starts for us.”

MAKING THE STEP UP TO U21

“Ryan Glover played most of last night’s Under-21s game versus Brentford. I thought he acquitted himself well. Physically, he’s fine at that level and has good experience playing against high-quality opposition with our own Under-21s. He’ll be better for that experience.

“Tom Hanfrey also came on and did fine. For those boys, it’s good experience to have that stadium exposure under the lights. We’re looking forward to our Youth Cup games later in the season as it’s good for them to get more and more familiar with those surroundings.”

LOOKING AHEAD

“We’ve got Portsmouth next Saturday and they’re always fiercely contested games because it’s a derby of sorts. They’re always competitive games as well so we expect it to be difficult, but if we perform how we did today and add the finishing touches hopefully we can get a positive result.”

The AFC Bournemouth Under-18 side are sponsored by Strategic Solutions.