The Academy Under-13's came away from the "Top-D" Tournament near Venlo in Holland over the weekend 10th/11th September with a wealth of experience. Ricky Martin was head coach for the trip and was joined by new Education Officer Danny laws together with old Education officer Ken Adey who was more than happy to help out in his "retirement". The tournament included the top clubs in Holland and Germany and proved tough going for Ricky's Under-13 squad. The squad was augmented with two young Danish players as the Academy Manager continues to spread his net far and wide in the search for new talent.

A Norwich player takes evasive action against Stuttgart

Rick Martin's half-time team talk

City's first group game saw a close match against Bayer Leverkusen who went on to reach the tournament final. The Germany side beat the Canaries 1-0 after Norwich had started the match brightly. The second match against Dutch side Willem II ended in a 0-0 draw but in the final game of the opening day Bayern Munich were just too strong for the Canaries with the German Champions winning 3-0. The second day saw City take on VfB Stuttgart on the Sunday morning and they certainly took the game to the Germans. Norwich created several first half chances and used one of them to lead 1-0 at the break. Unfortunately Stuttgart fought back strongly in the second half, eventually breaking down City's stout defence to win 2-1.

The final group opponents PSV Eindhoven had already impressed during the two days of competition. Norwich held their own with the Dutch team until just before half-time when two quick goals from their opponents left the city side with everything to do. A penalty for PSV early in the second-half seemed to kill off the game but to their credit Norwich fought back with two good goals, which saw the game end in a 2-3 defeat. The last placement game against Burnley was only a "friendly" as Burnley had brought players from an older age group. This quality tournament certainly gave the Norwich players a great learning experience and while many games ended in defeat City always conducted themselves well both on and off the pitch and were a credit to their club.

Action from the match against PSV Eindhoven

Burnley and Norwich players keep an eye on the ball

Results table Opponents Result Scorers Bayer Leverkusen 0-1   Willem II 0-0   Bayern Munich 0-3   VfB Stuttgart 1-2 Wyatt Hill PSV Eindhoven 2-3 Remy Gordon 2 Burnley (11th Place) w.o.

City Line Up In Venlo

The Squad Wyatt Hill, Jackson Ramm, Richard Brindley, Remy Gordon, Jordan Bond, Daniel Savory, Joe Clark, Ciaran Beales, Luke Hannant, Ryan Fryatt, Sam Neil, Andrew Wilton, Remy Matthews, Michael Clunan, Frederick Sundstrup (Karlslunde), Christoffer Remmer (Hvidovre). Staff Ricky Martin (Academy Manager), Danny Laws (Education Officer), Ken Adey (Assistant)

Report and Pictures courtesy of Paul Standley.