DORCHESTER TOWN U18 4

POOLE TOWN U18 0

DORCHESTER Town Under-18s dominated the game to beat Poole Town Under-18s 4-0 in the Dorset Under-18 Youth Cup final at the County Ground, Hamworthy.

Craig Robinson’s talented side emulated the trophy success of the Magpies’ under-23s, who last week claimed the Hampshire Combination & Development League Challenge Cup silverware.

The Magpies were 1-0 up going into the break when Freddie Nicholson, making a run from deep inside his own half, connected sweetly with a Jamie Hosking lay-off.

However, Dorchester were dealt a blow when Lewis Toms went off with a nasty elbow injury, later diagnosed as a chipped bone at A&E.

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Dorchester could have added to their lead, only for Josef Hodder to be denied by three outstanding saves from the Poole goalkeeper.

In the second half, Robinson’s teenage stars did finally get the second goal their efforts deserved when Hosking added a goal to his earlier assist, turning and firing home on the spot.

Sam Gadsby then turned home a corner for 3-0 before Toby Mann muscled his way into a one-on-one, collecting a long ball over the top and sweeping in to complete the scoring.

Dorchester even gave experience of final action to all four substitutes, including goalkeeper Harrison Wallis.

Speaking to Echosport, Robinson said: “It was a great team performance, the whole squad.

“It was solid. The scoreline showed a true reflection of the result.”

Robinson added: “Success breeds success. We’ve seen that with the 23s and now the 18s.

“It’s the first year that we’ve come out of grassroots football and it’s just been a joy. The players have responded to the patterns of football we wanted to achieve.

“We had a good league run, we came third and gave the two teams above us solid performances against them.

“To go into a final I would suspect there were a few nerves but to stick to our guns and play the type of football that we want to, front to back, we got our just reward.

“There were some great individual performances but as a collective I thought we were superb.”

Robinson also revealed his choice of goalkeeper was down to the toss of a coin.

“We’re privileged to have two very, very good keepers,” Robinson said.

“The keeper managed expectations unbelievably well. We were going to play a half each but they said they didn’t feel that was a good approach.

“They flipped it on a coin and Max Loder got the nod but we also managed to get Harrison on.

“They’ve shared the responsibilities in a final and getting the four substitutes on was good, they all played their part.”

Magpies: Loder, Nicholson, Hodge, Gadsby, E Robinson, S Morgan, F Morgan, Toms, Hosking, Mann, Hodder. Subs: Dunlop, McMann, Thornley, Wallis.