Bristol City's under 11s have just returned from a successful six days in Holland.

The youngsters were taking part in a Dutch first division tournament for the second consecutive year and having played four games they finished the tournament in fifth place just behind Ajax and a place ahead of Feyenoord.

Tim Kirk reports

The first game pitched our boys against the favourites Ajax. Their team contained the usual mix of sizes and their technical ability and speed of attack were typical of their first team. Despite City having a large share of the possession, chances were not finished and eventually Ajax took the lead after a mix up between centre back and goalkeeper gifted the Dutch boys an easy finish from 2 yards.

However, the performance in the final third improved throughout the competition with Troy Walters, Theo Llewellyn and Alfie Dix looking particularly impressive in creating chances and causing the opposition problems. Wins against Feyenoord and Sparta Rotterdam followed and a 1-0 defeat to eventual champions De Graafschap meant that the boys could return back to Ashton Gate with their heads held high. A further highlight was meeting Edgar Davids at the Ajax training ground, and catching up with old City favourite Evander Sno.

City's youngsters meet up with Edgar Davids

The Brummen tournament is the best competition I have been to for this young age group. The standard is very high, but more importantly the organisation ensures that everything is geared towards making it a positive learning experience for the children. With some of our boys being just nine, it really was fantastic to see them come away from home and cope with the demands of tournament football. In fact, they have already asked when they can go again!

Ajax v Bristol City 1-0
Sparta Rotterdam v De Graafschap 1-6

Feyenoord v Anderlecht 1-5
Genk v Brummen 3-1

De Graafschap v Ajax 5-1
Bristol City v Sparta Rotterdam 1-0

Brummen v Feyenoord 0-6
Anderlecht v Genk 1-3

Ajax v Sparta Roterdam 3-1
Bristol City v De Graafschap 0-1

Feyenoord v Genk 0-2
Anderlecht v Brummen 10-0

Pool A

1 De Graafschap
2 Ajax
3 Bristol City
4 Sparta Rotterdam

Pool B
1 Genk
2 Anderlecht
3 Feyenoord
4 Brummen

For 1st & 2nd place De Graafschap v Genk 4-0
For 3rd and 4th place Ajax v Anderlecht 1-1 (Anderlecht won on penalties)
For 5th & 6th place Bristol City v Feyenoord 3-1
For 7th & 8th place Sparta Rotterdam v Brummen 2-0

The club would like to thank Wessex Garages for their sponsorship of the Academy, enabling to the teams to embark of trips such as the ones reported on bcfc.co.uk.

Try mobile.bcfc.co.uk - City's award-winning official website is now available on your phone, for when you're on the move.