CHERRIES laboured to victory in south Wales in the EFL Cup, defeating Swansea City 3-2.

The away side trailed at the break thanks to Matt Grimes’ penalty early on, Cherries responding in the second period through David Brooks and Hamed Traore.

But with 10 minutes remaining, substitute Jamie Paterson fired through a crowd of bodies to seemingly send the tie to penalties.

But Ryan Christie had other ideas, popping up in added time to send Cherries through to the third round.

Having pledged to take both cup competitions seriously, boss Andoni Iraola brought with him to Swansea.com Stadium 19 of the 20 players named in the squad for the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.

Only Illia Zabarnyi was entirely rested, whilst seven changes saw Andrei Radu handed a debut in between the sticks and first starts of the season for Kieffer Moore, Hamed Traore, and Chris Mepham.

In the absence of regular skipper Neto, Brooks captained the side on his 100th Cherries appearance.

Mepham was heavily involved in the opening stages, first giving away a free-kick parallel to the box on the left-hand side after hauling down Josh Ginnelly.

Cherries half-dealt with the set-piece, only for the loose ball to fall to Liam Cullen, the striker blasting the ball goalwards.

However, the shot would not reach its intended target, Mepham’s attempt to block inadvertently involving his raised elbow.

Match official Matthew Donohue had no choice but to point to the spot, allowing Grimes to blast home into the top corner and open scores.

After going behind, it took time for Cherries to settle, but eventually the game fell into a pattern of the away side controlling possession without truly testing their hosts.

Traore had multiple shooting opportunities, but the only time he hit the target he was offside, his low drive beating Carl Rushworth in the Swansea goal without reward.

The Ivorian came close with the final moment of the half, latching on to Lloyd Kelly’s tempting cross and firing narrowly wide.

Displeased by the opening 45 minutes, Iraola made a triple substitution at the break.

On came Dominic Solanke, Lewis Cook, and Milos Kerkez, at the expense of Moore, Joe Rothwell, and Kelly.

But Cherries’ way back into the game would come via two players that had started the game.

Jaidon Anthony played a sumptuous through ball to Brooks with the outside of his boot, slicing the Swansea defence apart.

Although in acres of space thanks to Anthony’s pass, Brooks still had work to do, taking the ball down simply before firing across Rushworth and restoring parity.

Cherries were now on top and looked to make their heavy possession count.

Traore thought he had done so when he poked home a flicked header from Solanke, only for the offside flag to deny him for a second time.

But moments later, the Ivorian would grab his first goal in Cherries colours.

It was another Solanke header, this time an effort that clanged off the post, allowing Traore to again float in and stab home, this time the goal standing.

However, Cherries lead would only last until the 80th minute.

In the hosts’ first attacking spell of the half, substitute Jamie Paterson saw a long-range effort fly in off the far post.

This caused an end-to-end finish where both teams hunted a winner, with sub Christie coming up trumps.

Justin Kluivert slipped in the Scot, who used his first touch to set up an effort that gave Rushworth now chance and secured Cherries’ safe passage to the next round.

Cherries: Radu; Aarons, Mepham, Senesi, Kelly (Kerkez, h-t); Rothwell (Cook, h-t), Billing; Brooks (Kluivert, 83), Traore (Christie, 76), Anthony; Moore (Solanke, h-t).

Unused subs: Neto (g/k), Hill, Kilkenny, Semenyo.

Booked: Brooks, Senesi, Solanke.

Swansea: Rushworth; Naughton (Yates, 80), Cabango, Darling; Key (Ashby, 69), Grimes, Allen (Fulton, 58), Abdulai, O Cooper; Ginnelly (Kuharevich, 58), Cullen (Paterson, 69).

Unused subs: Fisher (g/k), B Cooper, Patino, Wood.

Booked: Abdulai, Naughton.

Attendance: 8,785.