Under-19s come from behind to win tournament

Albion under-19s were crowned Nike Premier Cup winners following a 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur in a replay on Wednesday at the American Express Elite Performance Centre.

Heather Miller

2023-10-27T08:00:00Z

Albion's under-19s celebrate winning the Nike Premier Cup.

The tournament took place at St Georges Park in August where the squad knocked out Chelsea and Aston Villa to secure their place in the final, which was abandoned following a player injury.

Despite conceding in the early minutes of the first half, Sinead Hogan-Belcher’s squad fought hard to pull back a goal in the second period when Ruby Harris equalised with a beautiful strike from distance to make it 1-1.

The squad's resilience built from this and they were able to find the winner late on with a great header by Evie Milner.

Delight for Albion after Ruby Harris made it 1-1.

Hogan-Belcher expressed her pride in the squad, “I’m really pleased with them. It was a very different atmosphere compared to St Georges Park in August which they had to adapt to. I felt at half-time that morale was still high.

Evie Milner heads home the winning goal.

“As a coach to not have to motivate your team because they do it for themselves makes the job all that easier. The second goal was scored by a substitute, which is something we've been working on. If you are a substitute you come on and you impact the game.

“I knew that the team had spirit and that they would be able to push through to the final. They are absolutely cut-throat in terms of wanting to win everything. They have an elite mentality and want to compete.”