Bristol Rovers' young guns begin FA Youth Cup quest

Bristol Rovers' youngsters will be hoping to keep their impressive start to the season going when they launch their FA Youth Cup campaign against Bournemouth at the Memorial Stadium tonight (7pm).

The Pirates are the only unbeaten club out of the 58 competing in the various sections of the Football League Youth Alliance this season and have a nine-point lead at the top of the SW Conference with a 100 per cent record from their seven games so far.

The Cherries were among their recent victims when Darren Patterson's side beat them 4-2 in the league a couple of weeks ago, but Bristol Rovers' head of youth is taking nothing for granted this evening.

"It was a difficult game against them a few weeks ago. We started like a house on fire but then took our foot off the pedal and they went 2-1 up," said Patterson. "We equalised just before half-time then stepped up a couple of gears in the second half and scored two good goals.

"But they are a threat and we will have to be on our toes. They have a couple of big forwards who are still under-16s but have been with Bournemouth's first-team squad and are a real handful."

Bristol Rovers' youngsters reached the fourth round of the competition last season and held eventual finalists Liverpool to a 2-2 draw at the Memorial Stadium before going out 4-2 on penalties.

"It will be interesting to see how the boys handle playing at the Memorial Stadium. I want them to go out and express themselves and enjoy the game without any sense of anxiety," said Patterson.

"A few of the squad were involved against Liverpool last season and hopefully they can help the younger boys through. I'd like to see us get at Bournemouth quickly, pass the ball well and score some goals."

The under-18 side kept up their winning run on Saturday with Ollie Clarke scoring a hat-trick in their 3-0 win at Hereford, and first-team boss Paul Trollope is hoping Gasheads will turn up to back the youngsters this evening.

"Hopefully our fans will turn out to cheer on the youth team. Last year they did very well to reach the fourth round and a lot of the first years who played against Liverpool are still eligible to play," said Trollope.

"Darren has got them playing the right way, they have picked up some good results and some individuals have shown real signs of development over the last six or eight weeks."

Admission tonight is £3 (adults) and £1 (under-16s and concessions).