The history of the SuperCupNI tournament is a massive appeal for AFC Bournemouth
The coach of AFC Bournemouth hailed the worldwide appeal of the SuperCupNI tournament after the Cherries got their campaign up and running with a 3-0 victory against County Fermanagh.
A first-half header from Jay Austin-Burrows had the Premier League side in front at the Warren in Portstewart.
However, they flexed their muscles thereafter as Alfie Thomas netted from another set-piece, before substitute Ben Rukiza made it 3-0 to cap-off an opening win in the Premier section.
On a pleasant afternoon, County Fermanagh did try their best but ultimately never really looked like getting back into the contest, with Jay Elis spurning a massive opportunity when the scoreline was 2-0.
When asked for his summary of the game, Elliot Head, coach at Bournemouth replied: “Yeah, really pleased for the lads. We've not been here before, so it's a good opportunity for tournament experience for the lads and to start how we did was really positive.
"We've done a bit of work on set-pieces, so it was nice to see that come off.
"Our goalie coach was looking after the set-pieces, so our normal set-piece guy, he's not with us.
"Our goalie coach was on it, so he's very happy with that.
"We wanted to come here for the history of the tournament and it’s a great opportunity to play against teams that we're not going to play.
"Within our group, there are different styles and the different opposition is ideal for our lads...and like you saw here, the amount of fans that come out to watch is incredible.”
Bournemouth face Hamilton Academical on Tuesday in Bushmills before finishing their group with a clash against Tigres UACL at the Limavady Showgrounds on Wednesday.
"One thing we're big on with the lads is trying to problem-solve,” Head added.
"Today, it was a slightly different formation that they played that we maybe weren't expecting and a different style to what we might face tomorrow and what we might face on Wednesday.
" So, those experiences I think will help the lads further down the line in their careers.”
And what’s it like staying Portrush?
Head replied with a smile: “Amazing and the hotel is great.
"A five-minute walk from the beach, so I had a nice little run this morning.”