Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Cherries: Bradbury pleased with competitive workout
Cherries manager Lee Bradbury insisted his players had benefited from their taste of tournament football despite watching them miss out on EC Group Cup success.[LNB] FC Saarbrucken claimed the top £80,000 prize after securing a deserved win over Cherries in yesterday's final at Seward Stadium.[LNB] The German third flight outfit sealed a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Markus Fuchs and Christian Eggert.[LNB] Bradbury admitted he was disappointed not to bag the silverware but still felt Cherries' cup matches against Glenn Hoddle Academy and FC Saarbrucken had served his team well in their pre-season preparations.[LNB] He said: The games were very competitive and FC Saarbrucken did very well. They are a good, organised team and they made it very hard for us.[LNB] I think they are a couple of weeks ahead of us in terms of their fitness and that showed towards the end.[LNB] Bradbury, whose team had previously beaten Hamworthy Recreation and drawn with Poole Town since returning from their summer break, added: It was definitely a step up in competition. The games were a lot quicker and it was good for the boys' fitness.[LNB] From a manager's point of view, it was brilliant to see the lads in a competitive environment against good teams.[LNB] After Steve Fletcher had fired wide from Liam Feeney's cross early in yesterday's clash, the visitors took the lead when Fuchs headed home Sven Sökler's free-kick.[LNB] Having seen Jürgen Luginger's men enjoy the better of the first half, Bradbury made a change by introducing playmaker Marc Pugh at the interval.[LNB] FC Saarbrucken keeper Enver Marina denied Danny Ings before Shwan Jalal saved superbly from Fuchs.[LNB] Steven Gregory fired over for Cherries before Pugh's fine free-kick flew inches wide with Marina beaten.[LNB] But the £80,000 top prize Cherries had been hoping for slipped away when FC Saarbrucken doubled the lead with 11 minutes remaining courtesy of Eggert's excellent free-kick.[LNB] Hoddle's academy, meanwhile, claimed third place with a 3-0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow. FC Saarbrucken defender Kai Gehring collected the £5,000 player-of-the-tournament prize.[LNB] n Wolves left-back Scott Malone is today set to complete a loan move to the Seward Stadium after watching both Cherries games in the EC Group Cup.[LNB] The 20-year-old is expected to sign initially until the end of December, with the agreement to be reviewed by both clubs during the January transfer window.[LNB] Manager Bradbury has so far politely declined to comment on the subject, but Malone has made no secret of the fact he is in line to join Cherries via his page on social networking website Twitter.[LNB] One of his most recent tweets suggested he would have a 45-minute run out during tomorrow night's pre-season friendly at Wimborne Town.[LNB] Cherries: (4-4-2) Jalal; Purches, Barrett, Baudry, Cummings; Feeney (Stockley, 83), Robinson, Gregory, Choubani (Pugh, h-t); Fletcher (Taylor, 61), Ings. Unused subs: Strugnell, Forbes, Parsons, Flahavan (g/k).[LNB] FC Saarbrucken: (4-1-4-1) Marina; Forkel, Lerandy, Eggert, Gehring; Sieger (Kruse, 61); Kizmaz (Ziemet, 66), Stiefler, Sökler (Ozbek, 73), Laux (Wurtz, 80); Fuchs. Unused subs: Bach, Pazurek, Bohmann (g/k).[LNB]
