ACADEMY TAKE PART IN ROBBIE KEANE ACADEMY CUP

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Successful weekend in Ireland for U11s & U12s

2024-05-08T16:25:40.079Z

ACADEMY TAKE PART IN ROBBIE KEANE ACADEMY CUP

Successful weekend in Ireland for U11s & U12s

2024-05-08T16:25:40.079Z

Successful weekend in Ireland for U11s & U12s

A selection of the Club’s U11s and U12s players spent last weekend representing Burnley in the Robbie Keane Academy Cup!

14 players made the trip to Crumlin, a suburb of Dublin, for a busy schedule of fixtures, team-bonding and fun.

After flying from Manchester Airport on Thursday night the group undertook a tour of Aviva Stadium, the home of the Republic of Ireland national team, first thing Friday morning.

It was then time for lunch, analysis and education ahead of their first game on Friday evening that saw them beat Spanish giants Atletico Madrid!

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Kaden Dinsdale scored the only goal from an Obed Mensah cross and after the game, coach Dave Tobin said: “It was a fantastic performance in and out of possession.

“We were aggressive all over the pitch and were tactically excellent, Charlie Gleeson and Isaac Rowland making some very good defensive headers too. Everyone played their part.”

The final two group games took place on Saturday, with emphatic 4-0 and 4-1 victories over Crumlin United and Seattle Celtic respectively.

There was also time for a trip to the Black Forge Inn, where the players posed for photographs with former UFC Champion Conor McGregor’s title belt.

On Sunday they played in the final against Sunderland which unfortunately, after a 2-2 draw in normal time, they lost on a best out of three penalty shootout.

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The result didn’t detract from a fantastic weekend, though, with the team playing some high-quality, free-flowing football.

On the experience Carter McDevitt, who won the ‘Man of the Match’ award in three of the four matches and was named Player of the Tournament by the host club, said: “It was great to be selected to play in the tournament over in Crumlin.”

“I played in it last year also so was aware of the good teams that would be competing there and the great atmosphere.

“It was a great honour to captain the team in the final against Sunderland and the whole team did brilliantly throughout. An experience I’ll never forget!”

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Richard Geoghegan, Assistant Head of Coaching, added: “First and foremost, I’d like to thank Chris Kelly and everyone at Crumlin United for their invitation to attend the Robbie Keane Cup once again.

“Our Academy trips and tours is a significant part of our programme, allowing the opportunity to face a variety of strong opposition from across the UK, Europe and the USA.

“All four matches provided a variety of tactical challenges and allowed us to discover so much about our players’ character and personality as they played in a pressured environment, some for the very first time in their footballing journeys.

“I am very proud of the players and staff for the way they rose to the challenge, remaining unbeaten in open play throughout the competition and doing so with a clear set of principles that we have now aligned right across the Academy.

"Both on and off the pitch, there were significant learning and development opportunities that we will be able to reflect on and maximise in the weeks and months ahead.”