Morgan Penfold netted twice as the Posh under 18s beat AFC Bournemouth.

Jack Collison's under 18s made it three wins from three to remain at the top of the Merit League following an impressive 3-2 victory over AFC Bournemouth at the Mick George Training Academy.

Once again, a late goal helped Posh to all three points, but it was the way they started the contest that impressed coach Ryan Semple - the youngsters opening the scoring within the opening 40 seconds.

"It was a tough game because Bournemouth were well organised and played a 3-4-3 formation, which is a system you don't usually come up against. They challenged us a lot and we had to work hard out of possession.

"We made a fantastic start, inside the opening 40 seconds we got ourselves in front. Morgan made a great midfield run and finished well from an Andrea Borg pass. Bournemouth had a lot of the ball after that and while we defended well, we didn't get to grips with them as well as we could and we had to tweak a few things at half-time after they had levelled.

"In fairness, the boys did well in the second half. Hugh Alban-Jones scored a fantastic free-kick to put us back in front until a lapse of concentration allowed them to get back level at 2-2.

"It has become a bit of a habit for us to score late and we did it again. A good ball forward from Lewis Elsom, who had recognised they were 1v1 at the back, their centre half dithered a bit on the ball and provided an excellent finish to lift it over the keeper to make it 3-2.

"I have to say that Lewis made three or four excellent saves in between the sticks. In the second half in particular he made one or two saves from the top drawer and credit to him for that."

The Posh youngsters travel to Portsmouth on Friday in preparation for their fixture on Saturday as they attempt to make it four wins from four.

Posh: Elsom, Cartwright, Goode, Garner, Barker, Penfold, Alban-Jones, Maddison, Gurney, Borg, Davison.