HOTSHOT Sam Surridge continued his recent scoring streak as Cherries’ youth team chalked up a 2-1 win over their Cheltenham Town counterparts on Saturday.

Surridge followed his double at Portsmouth and strike in the development squad’s 7-0 thumping of Fleet Spurs with a goal in each half to sink the Robins at Canford Arena.

Lewis Thompson halved the deficit for Cheltenham but Carl Fletcher’s charges stood firm during the latter stages to register their fifth win in seven Football League Youth Alliance South West matches.

Academy boss Joe Roach was full of praise for the striker’s predatory instincts but insisted Surridge was still on the same steep learning curve as many of his under-18s colleagues.

Roach told the Daily Echo: “Sam scored four against Reading for the under-16s not long after Carl and I came in so he has always had that knack in front of goal. He’s a good finisher.

“He started the season playing in a wider position in a 4-3-3 due to the process of our coaching programme which probably didn’t suit Sam in many ways but it gave him a different perspective on the game and hopefully developed his understanding of what happens in other areas.

“Now we have gone back to 4-4-2 which suits Joe (Quigley) and Sam collectively and he (Surridge) has managed to score two real striker’s goals by getting in and around the box.

“The most pleasing aspect was the good build up play to get him in those positions but they were well taken as well.”

“Both strikers could probably do a little bit better in the air and that sometimes comes as a consequence of big lads thinking they don’t need to jump so Carl (Fletcher) is working on their movement and different ways of getting on to the ball.

“They’re at a club that plays a lot of good football but we’re also getting into attacking areas much quicker now which is bringing them into the game more.”

On the match, Roach added: “It was a good team performance. We created a lot of chances in the first half and Cheltenham’s goalkeeper played very well.

“We weren’t as cohesive in the second half which was a change. We have been looking for a good first half for a little while but we didn’t quite match that after the break.

“They put us on the backfoot at times but we dealt with the pressure and saw out a game we possibly should have had more control over.”

Fletcher’s charges travel to Newport County on Saturday (11am).

Cherries: Stanton, Lee, Jordan, Randall, Harfield, O’Connell (Miller, 80), Worthington (O’Sullivan, 75), Butcher, Neale, Quigley (Young, 83), Surridge.