Anthony Wright praises quality of goals from under-21s
Anthony Wright praised the quality of Swansea City Under-21s' goals after they ran out 4-2 winners against AFC Bournemouth in the Professional Development League.
Morgan Bates opened the scoring from close range with just over 60 seconds played, before Josh Pescatore made it 2-0 on the half-hour mark with a fine solo finish.
Michael Dacosta-Gonzalez's strike shortly after the restart from Pescatore's goal halved the deficit for the visitors, but Thomas Woodward made an immediate impact from the bench as the midfielder made it 3-1 just a few minutes after coming on in the second half.
Pescatore then rounded off a fantastic individual performance as he completed his brace in the closing stages. Remy Rees-Dottin pulled a goal back for the Cherries late on, but the Swans prevailed to claim the three points.
And Wright was delighted with the quality of their attacking play as the Swans extended their unbeaten run in the league in 2026.
“It was a real tactical battle against a top-quality opponent. We got off to the perfect start – inside the first minute we scored a fantastic team goal that came from some great build-up play,” said Wright.
“As we expected, Bournemouth pressed us aggressively and the game was played at a high tempo throughout. I was really pleased with how we handled things in the first half especially.
“We were smart about identifying when to move the ball away from their pressing zones and switch the point of our build-up play, which created attacking overloads on the opposite flank.
Sam Parker and Josh Pescatore were constant threats, and that was perfectly demonstrated for our second goal – Sam made a brilliant run and played a great pass through to Josh, who fired an outstanding finish into the corner from 25 yards out.
“I was disappointed that we conceded just a minute after scoring that second goal. We should have been able to take control of the game at that point, but instead we gave Bournemouth a way back in. Their finish was good, but defensively we need to be better at stopping those attacks and winning the key duels.
“The second half continued in much the same fashion – at times it felt almost like basketball with end-to-end play, though I felt we were the side more likely to add to the scoreline. Thomas Woodward came off the bench and made an immediate impact, scoring a well-worked goal with another top-class finish just minutes after coming on.
“We then made it 4-1 with a brilliant counter-attack, and Josh was on target again – he’s now up to 11 assists and seven goals this season, and I thought his overall performance tonight was excellent both in possession and without the ball.
“The last 20 minutes were frustrating for me though. I wasn’t happy with how we saw the game out but overall, I’m pleased we got the three points, but I have mixed feelings about the performance.
“There were some moments of real quality out there, but also some poor ones that we’ll need to address. That said, scoring four goals and beating a very good Bournemouth side is a positive we can take."
