Argyle Under-16s win Heston International Cup

Argyle Academy enjoyed a wonderful achievement on the weekend, beating seven other clubs to the Heston International Under-16 Cup. 

The tournament, staged at Queens Park Rangers, involved teams from Aston Villa, Fulham, West Ham, QPR, Lillestrom in Norway, Helsingor from Denmark and USA club Crossfire. 

A massive thanks to Evergreen members for funding the trip away for our next generation of Pilgrim talent. 

Under-16 Lead Coach James Bradley said: “We challenged the whole group, staff and players, to create a professional environment for the whole weekend.  

“The aim was to replicate what the first-team would do for an away fixture, which means travelling up the night before, having dinner and breakfast together, match analysis and team meetings. That whole experience added value for the players.

“We had a fantastic togetherness for the whole weekend, we had a plan set out in the team meetings and the boys executed that plan brilliantly. The preparation work set them up really well for the games.  

“We talked a lot about the management of shortened, and how we would tactically manage situations of being 1-0 up or 1-0 down. As well as the tactical side, the boys knew they would have to respond mentally to situations, and to do that quickly in the games.

“In the semi-final, we conceded early in the game and it was all about keeping calm heads, and realising that there was time to recover the situation. We kept calm heads in the semi-final and that showed by being 2-1 up at half-time. 

“The players understood they were involved in an international tournament and they were determined to embrace the experience of a full weekend away, and part of that is celebrating goals and enjoying moments in the game.    

“It all led to the creation of a fantastic atmosphere throughout the weekend, which was a major factor in winning the tournament.” 

Argyle opened their account with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa and a 3-0 defeat of Fulham effectively sealed a place in the semi-finals, despite going down to a 2-1 defeat to Lillestrom in the final game of day one. 

On day two, the young Greens recovered from conceding an early goal against Helsingor in the semi-finals to triumph 2-1 and book a rematch with Aston Villa in the showpiece final.  

Argyle were outstanding in the final, defending with intensity and discipline, and attacking with the flair that saw them deserved winners. A 3-1 victory secured the trophy and the weekend was topped off by Argyle’s Seb Campbell winning the top goalscorer and Tegan Finn was named the most valuable player. 

The full story of the tournament will be included in Argyle's match-day programme, The Pilgrim, for Saturday's first-team game against Middlesbrough.