ACADEMY manager Joe Roach has praised Cherries under-18s for displaying their game-management credentials in securing four straight victories.

Cherries sit third in Football League Youth Alliance (FLYA) South West, six points off the summit with a game in hand, having won 3-1 at Portsmouth on Saturday.

Goals from Keelan O’Connell and Kyle Taylor gave the Cherries a 2-0 cushion at the break but Portsmouth hit back after the interval before Sam Surridge bagged all three points with 20 minutes to go.

The triumph made it a perfect October for Cherries with a trio of league triumphs arriving on the back of a FLYA Cup win at Gillingham with Roach citing as crucial the group’s focus on football matters.

Roach told the Daily Echo: “We have had a lot of new lads come in and certain amount of adjustment in terms of what we want them to do. They are now developing different parts of their game.

“Over the past four matches, we have tried to focus on stretching the opposition more to create more opportunities to score as well as working on our finishing techniques.

“We have scored 12 goals in the past four games so it seems to be working quite well. We are pleased with how the lads have taken on information, focused on the training and then applied that on the pitch."

Roach continued: “I think the big thing is how they are dealing with the emotional side of the game. The lads are all striving for a career in football and sometimes, it is trying to stop them thinking about the external stuff and getting them to simply deal with the game that is in front of them.

“That has happened and within that, all the players have flourished. They have all progressed and learned how to manage the game in a different way.

“All the teams we come up against know how we play and that is easy to play against in some ways so we have had to learn not to get frustrated and maintain our philosophy.

“In the past four games that has been the important bit, not getting distracted by what the opposition try to do. The players have developed that so full credit to them.”

Cherries return to cup action when they travel to Southend United in the FLYA Cup third round on Saturday (12noon).