FOUR players from Horrabridge Rangers U11s, all of whom play for The IFA Elite Football Academy based at Saltmill, Saltash, travelled to Manchester with their academy team mates to play in a development fixture against Manchester City Academy.

Guy Allen, Liam Wheeler, Archie Davies and Frank Poynton-Duke, were selected for the Manchester City  fixture and travelled to the £250 million Etihad development campus earlier this month.

They played two matches, with all four boys playing the full 80 minutes of football.

Manchester City split their squad into two, giving Elite 2 matches, each 20 minutes each way. They lost the first match 4-0 but once the nerves were out of the system, they gave a much better account of themselves in the second fixture, winning 3-2, with Liam scoring the winning goal with the last kick of the game.

The experience was one which the boys will never forget. They also had a tour of the Etihad Stadium and a look behind the scenes at the Development Campus, which is reputedly, the best in the world.