A Rovers under 17 squad recently represented the club in the US taking part in the prestigious Tiffany Trophy Cup.

In the eight team tournament, an 18-man Rovers squad faced teams from Mexico and the US before taking on giants Real Madrid in the final.

In their group of four, Rovers kicked off the tournament with a 1-1 draw against Chivas de Corazon. Jason Banton teeing up Micah Evans to score to put Rovers in front. But 30 seconds from time the Mexican side grabbed an equaliser against the run of play.

Against Freestate in their second game Rovers were dominant and ran out comfortable 3-1 winners. James Knowles had given Rovers the lead but the American side leveled with 20 minutes remaining. However Rovers weren't left to rue missed chances as Anthony O'Connor and Oliver Nicholas grabbed late goals to secure the victory.

Rovers went into their third and final group match knowing that victory would see them through to the final to play Real Madrid, and against US side Great Falls A91 Elite the result was never in doubt as they won 2-0.

Goals in each half from Jason Banton and James Knowles secured safe passage to the final.

But against a stronger and significantly older Real Madrid side they came unstuck, the game being switched to astroturf due to a threat of rain not helping Rovers. Clinical finishing from the Spanish giants saw them create three chances in the first half and score from all three.

Rovers improved and had chances of their own in the second half but were unable to take them as the game ended 3-0.

Off the pitch the young Rovers also had a tour of Washington including visits to the White House, the Washington Monument and the US Capitol Building. The squad was also invited to a civic reception at the British Embassy which was hosted by the Deputy Ambassador in the Oval Room.

Speaking of the trip, assistant Academy Manager Simon Ireland said: "The tournament was a great success for us. We reached the final with a young squad who all played their part on and off the pitch.

"The lads will come back more experienced in tournament football and having experienced playing in different conditions and against different styles and systems of play as well as playing against some top young European footballers from Madrid."