Hugh Alban Jones

Posh U18s suffer defeat to The Cherries in the Professional Development League.

Peterborough United U18s fell to a 4-2 defeat to AFC Bournemouth U18s on Saturday morning at the idverde Training Ground in the Under-18 Professional Development League, with Tyler Winters netting the two goals for Posh.

Posh broke the deadlock on six minutes and it was Winters netting back-to-back goals in league games. The forward put pressure on The Cherries goalkeeper and forced him into a mistake, leaving him an empty net to tap home.

However, the visitors brought the scores level on 15 minutes and it was a replica to the opening goal of the game as their forward tapped home from close-range after Ignas Sakalas' mishit pass presented the opportunity. 

The Cherries took the lead three minutes later as a ball over the top played their forward through, who shrugged off the retreating Tom Unwin before calmly slotting the ball past Sakalas.

Posh found the equaliser on 40 minutes as Torin Ntege slipped the ball through to Winters inside the box, he cuts inside onto his left-foot and curled his effort into the far corner, netting his third goal in two in the Professional Development League.

But, deep into added time in the first half, the visitors retook the lead. Posh made two changes at the break as Joe Davies and Max Beech replaced Trialist and Dennis Kelmendi. The Cherries extended their advantage on 58 minutes as a cross into the box was tapped home by their forward.

Posh searched for a way back into the game, but were limited to opportunities in the second half with Joel Odei-Larbi going the closest after firing an effort from close-range over the bar.

U18s Assistant Professional Development Phase Coach, Hugh Alban Jones, said: “We try to not get too carried away with the scoreline and focus more on the performance, but that was nowhere near the standards we set as a team. It definitely got away from our principles and didn’t look like our game model, so it was important that we made it clear to the players that is not how we want it and iron that out nice and quickly. However, we will use this as a learning curve and all players now know what to expect in this division, especially for the first years.”

Posh XI: Sakalas, Freeman, Unwin, Marcon, Gilbert, Toynton, Ntege, Trialist, Winters, Kelmendi, Changunda.

Subs: Beech, Holley, Odei-Larbi, Davies, Fox.