English team teaches Union a lesson

FOR A TEAM that spent all week training with two-a-days in preparation for its first season in the English Premier League, AFC Bournemouth had plenty of energy left for last night's friendly against the Union.

The Union's defense struggled to keep up with the quick pace and crisp passing of the Cherries in a 4-1 loss at PPL Park.

Bournemouth peppered Union goalkeeper John McCarthy early and often as they moved up and down the field with ease, tallying 18 shots.

"For our guys, it's a big lesson learned," Union manager Jim Curtin said. "There's a whole other level of technique, of work. They're not just good on the ball. They also put the dirty running in for a team that's in preseason going into the Premier League; they're hungry and they showed that."

McCarthy made a handful of impressive saves in the first half (six for the game), including a full-extension stop in the 16th minute to keep the game scoreless, but the keeper wasn't enough to overcome Bournemouth's well-oiled machine.

The Cherries' Adam Smith found Joshua King in the box and he shot the ball just over a sliding McCarthy and into the back of the net for the game's first goal in the 20th minute.

Six minutes later, Smith once again served the ball into the box and midfielder Callum Wilson volleyed it home for Bournemouth to give the EPL club a 2-0 lead.

Bournemouth was sharp, quick, strong and exactly how you would expect an EPL team to look on the field. The Cherries were promoted after winning the championship of the second tier of English soccer.

"I was pleased," Bournemouth coach Eddie Howe said of his club's performance. "Always aspects to improve and to try and look at and be better at. But you've come from so far away and [for] the players to have the attitude that they did tonight and the commitment to the game, I thought, was spot-on. I was very pleased to see us score four goals . . . that's a good start."

Bournemouth didn't take the Union lightly by any stretch, something the Union players noted after the match.

"A lot of times the teams come in here and don't really want to play and aren't really up for the game and we can kind of catch them by surprise," Union defender Sheanon Williams said. "They were ready from Minute 1 and that's credit to them and their coaching staff."

The Union finally was able to get on the board in the 35th minute when a cross from Williams found the head of Richie Marquez, making a late run on the far side of the goal, and he sailed a shot past the Bournemouth keeper. The Union entered the half trailing, 2-1.

As expected, Bournemouth made a wholesale change on the field to start the second half. Curtin, with an MLS match at Toronto looming on Saturday, brought Sebastien Le Toux, Jimmy McLaughlin, Fred, Steven Vitoria and Antoine Hoppenot onto the pitch in the second half to preserve the legs of a handful of starters for the weekend.

The second half provided a prime opportunity for some of the younger members of the Union roster valuable playing experience against Premier League-quality talent.

Curtin cited Eric Ayuk as a bright spot. Ayuk, 18, started and played a full 90 minutes, showing fleet footwork several times in the attacking half as he tried to create scoring chances.

"I thought his performance was good," Curtin said. "I thought he was up for the game."

Bournemouth once again struck first in the second half as Marc Pugh finished a pretty strike to put Bournemouth on the board for a third time in the 62nd minute.

Speedy Union forward Hoppenot had a scoring chance in the 72nd minute as he broke through the Bournemouth defensive line, but he was stopped just short of the box.

Fred took down Bourne-mouth's Mark Pugh in the box and Tokelo Rantie buried a penalty kick in the 85th minute to set the final score.

Vitoria returned to the pitch for the Union for the first time since May when a hamstring injury sidelined him. He played 45 minutes, an important step in the rehab process.

"I think that was the positive of the night," he said. "It felt good to be out there. It wasn't easy, but it's been a while. Training intensity is totally different than match intensity, so I was happy to get 45 minutes in. I feel really good. These past couple months have been a roller coaster."

Bournemouth's newly signed Tyrone Mings impressed in the second half before exiting in the 73rd minute. Formerly of Ipswich Town, the 6-3 defensive midfielder showed off his roughly $12 million tackling skills, stopping a run at goal by Ayuk with a sliding tackle.