Bournemouth's development team played at the Vitality Stadium on Monday night, losing 2-0 to Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League Cup.
The game featured multiple players from Bournemouth's Under 18's side as many of the Under 23's are rjumored to be traveling to St James' Park for the Carabao Cup tie against Newcastle on Tuesday night.
The opening ten minutes were dominated by the visitors, but the only real chance came as Rafferty Pedder dribbled past two Bournemouth defenders and cut inside, but he shot well wide.
Bournemouth’s first opportunity wasn’t long after as goalkeeper Billy Terrell pumped a long ball forward to Michael Dacosta Gonzalez, who beat his man and made it into the box but his shot was blocked.
Kian Tydeman picked up the first yellow card of the game after losing possession and committing a foul to stop a Queens Park Rangers counter-attack.
Pedder was once again the danger man for the Cherries, driving his way into the box and finding Baylin Johnson, who’s shot was met by the Queens Park Rangers’ goalkeeper and out for a corner.
The biggest chance of the first half fell to Steven Bala of QPR after the London side had some nice build up play down the left-hand side, leading to Adam Dougi finding Bala free in the box, but his shot was straight at Terrell.
In the later stages of the half it was Bournemouth who were on top, dominating possession and looking more likely to grab the opener, however in the 38th minute QPR had a flurry of chances, with Bala cutting in from the right hand side and forcing a save from the Bournemouth goalkeeper.
From the resulting corner QPR hit the crossbar with a header before the ball fell to both Bala and Dougi, with the latter shooting wide.
Bournemouth nearly opened the scoring when a Dacosta Gonzalez free kick from 30 yards out slipped out of the hands of Mateo Salamon, but he recovered well and held the ball.
It was goalless going into half-time. Bournemouth were the better side in a half that was relatively quiet.
Bournemouth made a half-time substitution, with Kian Tydeman making way for Ben Winterburn.
The opening stages of the second half was a dull affair, with neither team creating chances.
QPR had the first chance of the half when Pedder was foulded on the edge of the 18-yard box. Joe Gubbins struck the free-kick and forced a great save from Terrell, who was then booked for dissent.
The best chance for the Cherries up to that point came in the 58th minute when the ball fell to Ashley Clarke in the box. The striker executed a turn to beat the QPR defender but fired wide.
In the 74th minute a defensive error from Max Kinsley-Wellings lead to Steven Bala being through on goal, but his shot was deflected wide. From the resulting corner, defender Henry Hawkins had a free header just outside the six-yard box, but put the ball wide.
The visitors dominated the late stages of the game, pinning Bournemouth back into their own half for the majority of the last 20 minutes, and their hard work paid off when Alex Aoraha drove past the Bournemouth midfield and fired his side in front with five minutes remining, powering the ball past Terrell and into the bottom corner to give his side all three points.
Bournemouth had one last chance when Ashley Clarke was fouled on the edge of the box, but Ollie Morgan's shot was wide.
A poor mistake from Billy Terrell put the nail in the coffin for Bournemouth, with Steven Bala winning possession from the goalkeeper and lobbing it into the Bournemouth net.
This result leaves Bournemouth needing a win in the reverse fixture to progress in the Premier League cup when they travel to QPR on the 13th of January.