Under 23 4 – 0 Bournemouth U23 – Match report

WHAT HAPPENED

We tightened our grip on second place and fell just two points behind West Brom in Premier League Cup Group A after an emphatic 4-0 victory over Bournemouth on Tuesday night.

Kevin Betsy has been forced to reshuffle his defense following Brooke Norton-Cuffy’s loan to Lincoln City, which saw Alex Kirk make his first start since returning from injury, with Ben Cottrell also featuring for the first time since August.

We took the lead within two minutes, Kirk finding Marcelo Flores with a header in the box after Bournemouth failed to clear Omari Hutchinson’s opening free-kick and our midfield found the bottom corner.

Hutchinson looked in the mood as always and almost doubled our lead 10 minutes later when he forced Will Dennis into a smart save at the end of a brilliant solo run.

Jack Henry-Francis scored our second shortly after, reacting fastest in the box to head home from close range as Dennis failed to hold off Zak Swanson’s powerful low cross.

Reuell Walters replaced Joel Lopez at the break as Betsy experimented more with our defensive setup, but it was his next change, Hutchinson for Amario Cozier-Duberry midway through the second half, that really put the game to bed.

Our young winger made an instant impact, getting on the scoresheet just five minutes after coming on, completing a great team move involving Flores and Mika Biereth with a composed finish in the bottom corner.

Flores completed our rout in the closing stages, putting the finishing touches on another well-worked team move, with 16-year-old Cozier-Duberry at the heart of things.

WHAT THIS MEANS

We have reduced the gap to West Brom to two points in Group A of the Premier League Cup after five matches.

We will face the Baggies in our last group match on Monday February 14 and top the group with a win.

AND AFTER

We are back in Premier League 2 on Friday January 21 when we travel to Derby County.

Kick-off at Loughborough University Stadium is at 7pm (GMT).