Cheltenham Town under-14s earned a third-place finish with a play-off victory over Kidderminster Harriers on Sunday, as Chelsea beat West Ham United on penalties to win the tournament.
Cheltenham started the weekend with a 1-1 draw against Plymouth Argyle and a 0-0 draw against Chelsea before finishing Saturday with a 3-2 win over Eastside FC, one of two teams from the United States, to progress to the semi-final.
Chelsea beat Eastside FC 3-2 in their opening game before ending day one with a 1-0 win against Plymouth.
Kidderminster Harriers stepped up late on to replace Luton Town and scored one of the best goals of the weekend against West Ham before a draw against Stabæk and a 3-2 win against Archer Academy, the other American side, saw them progress to the final four.
The runner up of the weekend was West Ham who earned passage to the semi-finals with wins against Kidderminster, Archer Academy, and Stabæk. It was West Ham who denied Cheltenham a place in the final with a 2-1 win at Evesham United, with Chelsea beating Kidderminster 2-1 to book their place in the final two.
A penalty was the difference as Cheltenham won the third-place play-off 1-0 with the final ending as a 1-1 draw and Chelsea winning the tie after West Ham's final spot kick rebounded off the post.
Meanwhile Plymouth Argyle beat Stabæk 3-0 to finish 4th and a goalless draw meant that the play-off for seventh and eighth went to penalties, with Archer Academy coming out on top.
The final standings were as follows:
- Chelsea FC
- West Ham United
- Cheltenham Town
- Kidderminster Harriers
- Plymouth Argyle
- Stabæk
- Archer Academy
- Eastside FC
U14 Coach Jim Bryden spoke on a successful weekend of tournament football:
"I think it's been a really successful event in terms of the whole organisation and also on the pitch as well. Our group of players, for the two days, have got a really good experience from a lot of football in a really positive weekend.
“I think it’s a fantastic achievement for our group of players and for our club to come third behind Chelsea and West Ham but also over the weekend having the experience of playing both those two teams. I’m really proud of the boys."