JOE Roach believes some Wessex League hard graft will do Tom Strong and Matt Vokes the world of good.

The duo were last week sent to New Milton and Brockenhurst, respectively, to gain some senior football experience.

Roach told the Echo: “The pair’s placement is something that we have done to help them focus, to get them into a different environment, away from me, and to see if they can challenge themselves.

“We have not had a lot of reserve team games and this is adult’s football, so, hopefully, it will be valuable to them.

“We will just see how it goes for the next week or so and if it is in the best interests of the lads then they might stay there a bit longer.

“Next season we will probably do something similar.”

Roach was forced to field five schoolboys for Cherries’ Youth Alliance trip to Plymouth on Saturday, with the visitors eventually going down 1-0 in Devon.

Roach added: “I was pleased with the endeavour we showed, we improved in the second half and moved the ball better.

“Credit to Plymouth, they had clearer chances than us, but given the side we had out, I thought we played well.”

Cherries: Murphy (Tierney, 78), Turner, Case, Maybury, Linsey, Bell, Hester, Wakefield, Carmichael (Goodship, 68), Parsons (Moth, 31), Zocchi.