COACH Alan Connell said he had been “proud” of his Cherries players after they finally broke the club’s FA Youth Cup third-round jinx.

Second-half strikes from Jaidon Anthony and Jake Scrimshaw, coupled with a first-half own goal, saw them record a 3-0 win over Hull City at Vitality Stadium tonight.

It was the first time the club had progressed past the third round since 1997 and only their second win in the competition in their past nine games.

Cherries last reached the fourth round more than 20 years ago when the likes of Carl Fletcher and James Hayter featured, both of whom were among the crowd to see the class of 2017 progress.

Victory in front of a crowd of 545 set up another home tie against either Tottenham or Preston, who are due to meet at Stevenage on Tuesday.

Connell told the Daily Echo: “I was really pleased for the players and proud of them because they are a very hard-working and conscientious group.

“The club hasn’t done too well in this competition in recent years so we were really pleased to progress to the next round. We will have a home tie against good opposition whether it is Spurs or Preston.

“We didn’t play anywhere near as well as we could have, especially on the ball. We did quite well off the ball and were difficult to break down.

“On the ball, we were a little hit and miss but there were still some nice bits in there. The perfect game doesn’t always happen but we were pleased and proud.”

Cherries withstood some early pressure before taking the lead in the 10th minute when Tigers skipper Josh Thacker turned Connal Morrison’s cross past his own goalkeeper.

Captain Sam Sherring was denied a second when his effort from a Gavin Kilkenny corner was pushed over the crossbar by Hull goalkeeper Harrison Foulkes.

His opposite number Will Dennis tipped Billy Chadwick’s 20-yarder around the post before the Cherries goalkeeper excelled from the resultant corner.

Having met Ahmed Salam’s delivery with a bullet header from point-blank range, Keane Lewis-Potter looked on in disbelief as Dennis clawed it away to safety.

As Cherries went in search of a second, Ryan Glover fired over following good work down the right by Charlie Seaman midway through the first half.

Cherries were thankful to another top-drawer save from Dennis, the stopper tipping over Brandon Fleming’s 33rd-minute free-kick, which had been destined for the top corner.

And after Ash Pope had drilled a shot over the crossbar, Dennis clutched Lewis-Potter’s venomous strike from 25 yards as the opening period drew to a close.

The first chance of the second half fell to Anthony but, having let fly from 20 yards, he watched Foulkes dive full-length to his right to push it past the post.

Anthony showed some neat footwork to carve out another opening, only to see his shot strike Thacker as he looked certain to double Cherries’ lead.

Pope twice went close to adding a second, poking wide his first effort from a James Boote cross and then sending a fierce first-time drive past the post.

Cherries’ pressure finally told when Anthony made it 2-0 after his shot from the edge of the box took a slight deflection and crept just under the crossbar.

Scrimshaw completed the scoring when he swept home from close range after getting on the end of a cross from Seaman.

Cherries: Dennis, Seaman, Morrison, Ofoborh, Camp, Sherring, Glover (Gillela, 87), Boote, Pope (Scrimshaw, 73), Kilkenny (Nippard, 81), Anthony. Unused subs: Hanfrey, Parker-Trott (g/k).