JOE Roach heaped praise on Sam Vokes after the Welsh under-21 striker hit the only goal for Cherries in Wednesday night's FA Youth Cup defeat.

Vokes, who is in line to replace Lee Bradbury in the first team tomorrow, put Cherries into a 65th-minute lead against Oxford United.

But Micky Lewis's side hit back to level in added time before claiming a 2-1 victory after extra-time.

Cherries head of youth Roach was quick to praise Vokes for his efforts on the night.

He said: "Sam, as a first team player, showed great, great character.

"He's playing a higher level now and it was nice to see his frustration at having to come off.

"It bodes well for him as an individual and shows how important the competition is."

Vokes was substituted in the first period of extra-time to "protect" him for the match at Barrow, but the forward was pleased to boost his match sharpness.

"I needed 90 minutes under my belt. It was good to play and hopefully I'll get back in the team for Saturday," Vokes told the Daily Echo.

"With Lee Bradbury out, hopefully I'm looking to start and make a play while he's out."

Roach thought his side had plenty of opportunities to progress to the next round, where they would have faced a trip to Stevenage Borough.

"Their goalkeeper pulled off a number of saves," said Roach.

"We more than did enough to win the game, but only scored one goal unfortunately."

Cherries Youth: Pryce, Queere, Rose, Franks, Finlay, Whittingham, Partington, Cooper (Reeve), Preston (Davidson), McQuoid, Vokes (Newton).