Pinchbeck-based Elite Sports Academy recently travelled to Denmark with three of their teams to compete in the Nørhalne Cup.
The international tournament, which also includes the Nørhalne Elite Cup, saw 550 teams from across the world compete in age groups from under 9s to under 17s.
Two ESA teams competed in separate under 9s (boys A and boys B) groups and one in the under 10s category.
Both under 9s reached the final in their groups, while the under 10s lost on penalties in the semi-final.
On day one the younger under 9s team, managed by Andrew Tidswell, played Biersted IF winning 19-0, Ikast FS 2 which was a 1-1 draw and Jetsmark IF 1, who they beat 9-0.
On day two, they took on Meiendorfer SV, winning 7-0 and Bagterp IF, beating them 8-1.
Day three’s semi final saw them beat VfL Pinneberg 2-1, but it wasn’t to be as Bagterp IF got their own back, winning 3-2 and lifting the trophy.
Day one for the older under 9s, managed by Sam Harris, saw them beat Randers Freja 2 2-1, draw 3-3 with Aabybro IF and beat Nordic Elite FC 5-4, despite having gone 3-0 down.
Day two saw them beat Boldklubben Marienlyst 5-2 and AaB 4-1, which meant they finished top of their group.
In the following day’s semi-final they beat Randers Freja 1 2-0, but they fell at the final hurdle, losing 4-1 in the final to Stensballe IK.
The under 10s, managed by Josh Nunn, had a successful first day beating all three of their opponents – Bagterp IF/LIUF 8-0, Thisted FC 1-0 and Vodskov IF 3-0.
Day two of the tournament saw them take on Nørresundby fB, winning 2-0 and Ikast FS, who they beat 5-0.
They also finished top of their group and went on to play Hjørring IF in the semi final, which finished 2-2 and they went on to lose 3-1 on penalties.
They played Thisted FC in the play-off for third place, which after full time finished 4-4 and they won the penalty shoot out 3-1.
The three teams did themselves proud and all walked away with a trophy and a fantastic experience.
The three-day annual tournament is held at various venues across Denmark and this year saw 3,271 players take part in 1,885 matches with 8,907 goals scored.
