ALAN Connell heaped praise on his stand-in skipper Nathan Moriah-Welsh, after Cherries’ development squad cruised to a 5-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Moriah-Welsh got the ball rolling at Silverlake Stadium, before further goals from Daniel Adu-Adjei, Dominic Sadi (2) and Ashley Clarke secured progression through to the Premier League Cup knockout stages.
Ben Greenwood usually captains the second string, but is currently with the first team due to defensive injuries, so did not feature on Monday night.
“I thought he led by example,” Connell told afcbTV, discussing Moriah-Welsh.
“He was top in his performance and showed everything that he is. I was really pleased with him.
“Nathan does a lot of work on his finishing after training. He must have hit hundreds and hundreds of shots after training, especially with Tom Prodomo, my assistant.
“They are always doing extras after of finishing, so I was delighted to see that go into the bottom corner.”
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Victory sees Cherries progress with two games to spare in the group, Connell’s men still to host both Charlton Athletic and Norwich City as they seek to top the standings.
“I’m delighted with the performance, first and foremost, and the result followed that,” said Connell.
“Wolves are a top, top team with real talent. We found that out when we went away to their place back in October and got a hard-fought 0-0 that night.
“(Monday night) was very good. This was right up there with one of our best performances, especially considering the calibre of opposition.
“I think there was real variety in our game.
“Our players made some real good decisions and there was some lovely passages of play and really nice goals we scored.”
He added: “I’m delighted we’re through, but now it’s a case of trying to top what is an extremely difficult group, with lots of quality teams.
“To get through with two category ones in there and Charlton, a well-established category two academy, is obviously a big achievement.
“I’m really pleased to go through with two games to spare. Now the challenge is to top the group.”
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