Pitman and Rosero strike but Cherries suffer defeat to Wrexham at TST
Goals from Brett Pitman and Junior Rosero proved not enough as AFC Bournemouth were beaten 6-2 by Wrexham Red Dragons in their second game at TST.
The Cherries must now beat Real Athletico tomorrow (11pm UK time) to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stages of the competition in North Carolina.
Wrexham, who have featured in the past two editions of the tournament, found the net after just four minutes when Aaron James fired home from an acute angle.
Former Peterborough star George Boyd then made it 2-0 seven minutes later.
Despite Junior Stanislas and Pitman working Wrexham keeper Abe Rodriguez, a slick counter-attack saw Callum Edwards surge up the other end to fire in a third.
Boyd then continued his scoring form in the tournament with a sumptuous volley which flew into the top corner.
Somalia international Sak Hassan then chipped home a fifth, before the contest was taken into the target score period.
Pitman slotted home a penalty to reduce the deficit before Rosero’s low drive made it 5-2. Shaun Cooper’s effort on the rebound then appeared to cross the goal line for the Cherries, but the match official waved play on.
And it was left to former Leicester man Marc Albrighton to find the match-winning sixth for Wrexham, the Premier League winner applying a cool finish to seal the game.
AFC Bournemouth’s representatives have touched down in the US ahead of their participation in the eagerly-anticipated The Soccer Tournament.
A Cherries squad featuring a number of ex-players will take part in TST, a seven-v-seven championship with a $1million winner-takes-all prize.
The likes of Simon Francis, Tommy Elphick, Shaun Cooper, Charlie Daniels, Harry Arter, Junior Stanislas, Lewis Grabban, Brett Pitman, Dan Gosling and Andrew Surman are among the players in the AFC Bournemouth squad.
And preparations are well under way ahead of the event, held WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina between 4th-9th June.
The Cherries start their campaign with a Group F fixture against Pat McAfee’s The CONCAFA SC on Wednesday (3pm UK time) before taking on Wrexham Red Dragons on the same day (midnight UK time).
The Cherries then take on Real Athletico in their final group game on Thursday (11pm UK time).
The top two teams from each group, as well as the eight third-place teams with the most points, will advance to the knockout stage, set to commence on 6th June.
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