A mixed Norwich City Under-14 / 15 squad travelled to Lohne in Northern Germany to take part in the fifth International Youth Tournament in this small German town. Many of the best Bundesliga clubs were represented along with some top Scandinavian clubs, Twente Enschede from the Netherlands and Everton from England. Competition was spread over two days - Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th with a tough schedule of 24-minute matches. Norwich were well prepared and had travelled over on the Thursday to acclimatise in what was one of the hottest weekends of the summer.

A Training session on the local youth hostel pitch in Damme

The first match against Osnabrueck was tough as this picture shows

To enable themselves to compete in the last eight, City needed to finish second in their first round group. The City squad was one of the smallest and youngest in the competition and took a while to adjust. This cost them dearly as the went down 1-0 in the first game against a robust Osnabrueck side without really creating a chance. The Canaries then faced Leverkusen in the main stadium and improved to earn a 0-0 draw. Although the German outfit had several chances, City should have clinched victory when a goalkeeping error allowed them to bundle the ball goal-wards. The referee failing to give the goal although several neutral onlookers saw the effort as behind the line.

The Canaries then needed to beat Danish side Slagelse by two goals and hope for a kind result in the other group game to finish second. City kept their part of the deal with a great 2-0 against the Danes before news of a draw in the parallel match turned the smiling young Canary faces somewhat glum at the prospect of a second round group to decide the lower tournament placings as they finished third. City failed to set their second round group alight, drawing three games and losing an all-english clash against Everton. While they generally looked solid, coach Ricky Martin worked particularly on improving the play in the last third of the field.

Leverkusen break from midfield

City rise to the challenge against Slagelse ... and head for goal against Dinklage

The final play-off match saw the Canaries find their shooting boots as they put on an impressive show of football against local side Dinklage to finish off the tournament in a positive manner. Depite the disappointment of not reaching the last eight, the well run tournament certainly proved a good experience for the City squad and gave Ricky Martin an ideal opportunity to work with his young charges who coped admirally with a tiring and stressful hot weekend. As all Norwich Academy teams, they were certainly a credit to their club and good ambassadors for English football abroad. Opponents Result Scorers VfL Osnabrueck (Round 1) 0-1   Bayer Leverkusen 0-0   Slagelse 2-0 Tom Parker 2 Trellborgs (Round 2) 0-0   Malmo 0-0   Everton 0-2   Hannover 96 0-0   TV Dinklage (Play off) 4-0 Jamie Forshaw, Matthew Daniels 2, Tom Parker

The Norwich Squad in Lohne

The City Squad: Declan Rudd, Conrad Pitkethly, Josh Birmingham, Adam Marriott, Alex Chadwick, David Cooper, John Carrier, Tom Adeyemi, James Paterson, Tom Parker, Simon Beeson, Michael Fraser, John Abbott, Chris Miller, Kesley Dedman, Jamie Forshaw, Matthew Daniels Staff: Ricky Martin (Academy Manager and Coach), Ken Adey (Education Officer), Vicky (Physio)

Report and Pictures courtesy of Paul Standley.