2
USA Today logo
This article is brought to you by our exclusive subscriber partnership with our sister title USA Today, and has been written by our American colleagues. It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald.
WINGER Ashley Clarke was confident that the Cherries would go on to win despite conceding early in the Professional Development League playoff semifinal vs Burnley.
AFC Bournemouth trailed within three minutes – but hit back after six and then led 2-1 at halftime, thanks to Clarke’s goal after 35 minutes.
They went on to win 4-3 – two late Burnley goals creating a nervy finish, but Alan Connell’s men held on to book their spot in the final against Brentford.
Reflecting on their achievement after the game, Clarke told the Daily Echo: “It's excellent.
Match report: Cherries book their spot in playoff final with 4-3 win over Burnley
“Obviously, we've been working towards it for a while now. If you look back probably three months ago, we weren’t in the greatest position, playoffs was probably out of reach.
“But as we've gone on a 14 unbeaten run now, it's excellent the work we've done in the last two months, I don't think any 21s have probably done that ever. So I think we're all proud.
(Image: Robin Jones) “But we all know we've got one more, Brentford. We've played them quite a few times this season. It's always been a tough game, but one I think all the boys know that we can do it.”
On the slow start, Clarke said going behind does not worry the free-scoring Cherries.
“We know we're going to go behind sometimes in a game, but I think if you look at the last 14 games, we've probably gone behind a couple of times,” he explained.
“But we know we score so many goals that we always believe we're going to score.
“So us going behind, I don't think it really phases us. Obviously it's a bit disappointing, but we know we're going to score.
“If you look at Wigan [the 5-2 win] we scored within a minute or two, so it doesn't really bother us, to be honest.”
Cherries must 'learn lessons' ahead of playoff final: Connell
Clarke’s goal showed fantastic composure from the young winger, receiving the ball in the box in plenty of space, before he picked his spot and finished well.
It was his 16th goal of the campaign so far, saying he is ‘buzzing’ with the return.
“Obviously I'd probably like a couple more, but, as a winger, your game is based off goals and assists and to get another one tonight, I'm enjoying it,” he said.
(Image: ROBIN JONES) “I haven't scored for the last couple of games, so it started to play on my mind a bit. But once I got in the box from Archie's cutback, I’ve just got to stay composed like Al tells us, once you're in the box, stay cool and just hit in the top corner.”
He continued: “Sometimes I've had chances before in the box, I've had too much time and I've blazed it over.
“So it was just calming myself and picking my spot, really, and that's what I did.”
On the ‘nervy’ end to the game, Clarke said conceding twice late on will be a lesson for them going into the final, against Brentford.