AFC Bournemouth Under-18s came back from a two-goal deficit to beat Tottenham Hotspur Under-18s on their own turf 4-2 on Tuesday.

Spurs found themselves 2-0 up after the first half-hour, but Brennan Camp’s header on the brink of half-time signalled an emphatic comeback for the away side.

Three second half goals, courtesy of Jake Scrimshaw and Ryan Glover gave the resilient Cherries, having not been defeated in their previous six competitive games, another big victory.

Tottenham enjoyed more of the ball in the first half, going 1-0 up in the first 15 minutes, then 2-0 in the first 30. The Cherries weren’t limited to their chances but failed to convert the handful that were presented to them.

Skipper Camp offered a sight back into the game right on the brink of half-time, winning the header from a corner, before finishing from close range after reacting first to the rebound off the ‘keeper.

Alan Connell’s side started the second half much like they’d finished the first, taking just five minutes to find the equaliser as Christian Saydee threaded a ball through to Glover on the right wing. He fired a low cross into Scrimshaw who reacted first and placed the ball in at the near post.

Not about to rest on their laurels, Bournemouth capitalised on their dominance again with half an hour remaining, Nathan Moriah-Welsh forcing the Spurs’ ‘keeper into making a mistake with his high press. The ball fell to Scrimshaw who, from just outside the box, chipped the ‘keeper with his left foot to turn the game around to 3-2.

Glover made sure of the result on the 70th minute, meeting a header at the near post from Tom Dinsmore’s corner to wrap up an impressive comeback for Bournemouth.

A satisfied under-18s manager Alan Connell commented on the following topics with afcb.co.uk after the game:

The performance

“I’m very pleased, to come from behind at a category one academy. Tottenham is one of the best academies in the country, so the challenge was always going to be difficult. Having spoken to their coach before, they’ve got a good, large pool of players to choose from, so we knew that – whatever team they put on the pitch – it would be of the highest quality.

“We found that to be the case in the first half when they kept the ball really well and caused us a lot of problems. We had to try to resist that pressure and hit them on the break, which we did really well.

“In the first half, they probably had more of the ball while we had five or six clear chances, but they were more clinical with theirs. Getting a goal right on the stroke of half-time gave us a big lift going into the break.

“At half-time, I asked for more of the same from the boys while being a little bit better with ball retention. I reminded them that we would get more chances, and in the second half we were a lot more clinical. We probably had less chances in the second half but we took almost all of them.

“Defensively, once we’d got into the lead, we were much more compact and denied Spurs the space to play through us, as we looked to hit them on the counter. We made substitutes as we went on, and some of our younger players got on and did well.

“There were times when we countered and looked to use the space in behind, and other times when we tried to play under their high press and found our way out under a lot of pressure, so we had a nice mix in our game between keeping the ball well under pressure but also exploiting them on the counter.

“Overall, I’m delighted how the boys executed the game plan, as well as their character, attitude and resilience. Being two goals down, to come back against one of the best academies in the country and produce the performance that they did speaks volumes to the types of lads that they are.

“Brennan got his first goal of the season and he’s one who’s more than capable of getting goals for us like he did last year. He led us from the back and has remained captain this season. The way he organised the team and led with his voice today is everything that we want from him.

“It’s hard to single out players, as it was a real, collective team-effort where everyone played well and stuck to their jobs. We were a real threat going forward and it carries on the recent, good momentum of scoring lots of goals. It was a very good day, I was really happy with it.”

Looking ahead

“We’ve got a little bit of a break now before our next game at Cheltenham Town Under-18s. The boys have worked ever so hard recently so that break should enable us to get over a few niggles.

“Today was a good guide for where we are as a team. Especially after being two down, the response tells me that we’re in a good place but there’s plenty of work still to do and we won’t get carried away.

“There are bigger games ahead and it’s important we carry on the momentum we’ve built up recently.”

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