A week after taking two squads to Denmark for the Norhalne Cup, Academy Manager Ricky Martin was on the road again over the weekend 14th/15th May, taking an Under-14 (born after 01.01.1991) squad to the Baisieux tournament, near Lille in France. He was joined by Technical Director David Williams, who was taking the chance to look at some of the younger Academy boys while also fulfilling the role of coach. The competition in this small town looked to have some high quality teams and the Canaries started off their group games with a match against FC Nantes. In the battle of "The Canaries" Norwich created some good chances in the first-half of twelve minutes, but paid for their missed chances as Nantes grabbed a second-half winner.

Canaries v Canaries as Norwich take on Nantes

City go in where it hurts against Randers

The second game against Danish side Randers saw an improved performance from Norwich, but City failed to create the goal they needed in a hard-fought 0-0 draw. It was looking as though the fight for second place in the group (and with it a semi-final place) would go down to goal difference, it was therefore important that the Canaries won their third group game against local club Baisieux convincingly. The Yellows got off to a good start against the home team with a goal bundled over the line in the opening minute and they went on to get two more in a convincing win.

This set the Norwich team up for a decisive show-down game against Excelsior Mouscron at the end of the first day. Both teams expected that a 1-0 win for Norwich would see the Canaries go through on goal difference. Again City got an early goal in this important match but from then on Mouscron applied pressure and it required some excellent saves and defending to keep them at bay. Not that Norwich were without their own chances, but two or three opportunities on the break were squandered and the match finished 1-0. The Canaries left the field jubilant and Mouscron were certainly dejected, but a visit to the tournament organisers' office revealed that a 1-0 win had not been enough due to a mis-communication.

City defend against Mouscron

Norwich on the defensive against Valenciennes (photo from www.asbp.fr)

City were left with no option but to settle for third place in the group and a Sunday play-off for fifth place in the tournament against French side Valenciennes. The play-off saw Norwich play well, particularly in the second-half, creating several chances before Valenciennes got the deciding goal on a counter-attack. Although finishing in sixth place, Norwich did not leave the tournament empty handed. The side picked up the fair-play award and Declan Rudd was nominated the tournament's best goalkeeper to round-off another successful trip abroad.

Results table Opponents Result Scorers F.C. Nantes 0-1   Randers Freja 0-0   A.S. Baisieux Patro 3-0 Michael Fraser, Simon Bird, Sam Goff Excelsior Mouscron 1-0 Adam Marriott Valenciennes (Fifth place Play-off) 0-1

Norwich go close against Baisieux

Ricky Martin and David Williams

Academy Manager Ricky Martin was very pleased with the weekend despite the disappointment of missing out on the semi-finals. "The standard of teams here is very high. Due to the location the organisers have been able to attract some of the best teams from France, Belgium and Germany." "The format of the tournament is short which is ideal at the end of a busy season and it gives us the opportunity to mix our Under-13 and Under-14 sides to create a squad in the international 1991 age group" Ricky added. "Being a quieter end of season for the Academy scholars it has also provided an opportunity for David Williams to attend a trip to cast his eye over our up-and-coming youth squad."

David Williams kept the players on their toes	We spoke to technical director David Williams about what he was looking out for on the trip. "I am looking for a range of things. Off the pitch I would like to get to know the boys and see how they cope with the travel and life away from home. On the pitch it is now easy for them playing at Colney, but here it is different, also with other languages involved. How do they respond? Do they go back into their shell or are they inspired and motivated?" said David. "I think there is more of a team aspect here on how they interact and help each other. Team bonding is important." The technical director added "Then of course it is interesting to measure them up against opposition from several European countries. We are constantly making the challenge bigger, moving up from local football to Academy games against the big London clubs and now we have a European challenge."
City take the field in Baisieux
The Squad Simon Bird, Shane Brown, Tom Adeyemi, Olly Thomson, Daniel Compton, Sam Goff, Jack Buckmaster, Jacob McCabe, Elliot Hunter, Matthew Daniels, Declan Rudd, Simon Beeson, Christopher Hall, Mark Smith, Adam Marriott, Michael Fraser. Staff Ricky Martin (Academy Manager), David Williams (Academy Director), Andy Blofeld (Administrator), Victoria Griffin (Physio).
Report and Pictures courtesy of Paul Standley.