The San Francisco Seals sent a U17 and a U15 team to the prestigious Milk Cup Tournament in Northern Ireland.  The U17 boys did quite well placing third in the Premier section Dunluce Trophy group.

 

The U17 team was put together from the Seals U17 Super Y team, and guest players that included former San Francisco United players Ryan Hirooka and Ryan Sheirich, and Robbie Tice joined the team from Canada.  While in Ireland they added two local players; Gary Quinn and Howard Beverland, and one English player; Carl Charmen.

 

The boys left for Ireland on July 22nd, with a one week stop in London.  While in London they trained, played the Stevenage Academy U19 team defeating them 3-2, played a group of professional players who were "on the beach" waiting for contracts, and defeated them 4-2.  After the Stevenage match the team was fortunate to attend a pre-season match with the Stevenage first team against the Tottenham Spurs.  The Spurs first team was there, and it was a special treat to see the likes of Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe working their magic.  The Spurs won 3-0.  (Note that one of the Spurs fans spotted our boys & looked up the team online - check out his comments in our Forum section of this website.)

Our U15 team went directly to Shannon, Ireland where they trained and played a couple of friendly matches as well.

The U17 boys finished with a 2-3-0 record, with a tough 0-1 loss in the last three minutes against Sheffield United, an 0-4 loss against the local County Antrim team, a 0-0 draw against the Malta national team that was lost in PK's, and finishing on a high note with a 2-1 win over the Lichtenstein national team, and a 5-3 win over Otago from New Zealand.

The U15 boys struggled and came away without a win, but they kept their heads up and played tough in every match. 

With scouts everywhere, autograph seekers, and fantastic competition, the boys came home with memories enough for a lifetime!

Check out these photos from the Milk Cup photographer from our match with Sheffield United.

Visit the BBC Milk Cup website, and the Official Milk Cup website.

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