DEVELOPMENT coach Stephen Purches admitted there was room for improvement following Cherries’ 2-0 pre-season defeat at Poole Town on Tuesday.

Taffy Richardson’s Tatnam testimonial saw Purches and Dolphins counterpart Tom Killick field much-changed sides in each half with the hosts asserting themselves after the interval.

Cherries, who fielded 18-year-old Belgian trialist Isaac Mbenza on the left wing during the first 45 minutes, enjoyed the better of the first half without seriously troubling home keeper Nick Hutchings.

Poole went on to win thanks to Steve Devlin’s penalty after Jayden Stockley’s foul on Lamin Dibba. A sweet strike from the home side’s own young gun, Morgan Turner, settled matters midway through the second half.

Purches told the Daily Echo: “I was pleased with some of the play, we had our moments in the game but as a manager you always want more and we recognised a few things we could have done better.

“We had a very different line-up compared with the game at Hamworthy (Recreation) last week and the lads were up against more experienced players. The side was very young but it was a good test of how we react to different situations.

“I thought there were some good moments, particularly in the first half. We controlled it quite well without having the cutting edge before we gave them opportunities with one or two misplaced passes.

“It was okay. We are always looking at how we get to the best out of everyone and sometimes that means going through okay to focus on what you have to improve.”

Next up for the development squad is a trip to Wimborne Town on Saturday, July 26 (3pm).