DORCHESTER Town Under-13s manager Stan Watt was “very proud” of his young players as two Magpies sides finished first and second in a youth tournament in Wurzen, Germany.

Watt’s team were invited to the eight-a-side competition as county and league champions to represent England and the under-13s head coach said the club “jumped at the opportunity”.

He told Echosport: “There were a lot of teams from different countries, it was pretty good. We got invited over because the lads were county and league champions from last year and we were invited as an English representative.

“We jumped at the opportunity but we didn’t want to choose from all the players so we took 20 in two teams. We split it right down the middle so there was no first or second team.”

Dorchester were separated into two teams, one red and one black, in a league system format and managed to secure the top two places, with the reds winning on goal difference.

With the event being held abroad, Watt spoke of his pride in the players, some of whom had never set foot on foreign soil.

“It’s a big deal for some of them who’ve never been away before. Some have never flown so I’m very proud.

“We had to shepherd them from Berlin to Wurzen.

“It obviously comes with challenges but the boys behaved themselves and were good ambassadors.

“All the teams were accommodated together with teams from France, Spain, Latvia and Portugal. It was good to see them play together,” he said.

Watt also revealed his players had been training from the end of last season for the occasion, including some tricky tests against big local teams.

He said: “They trained pretty hard.

“They finished the season and kept it going, training twice a week and with one competitive match a weekend against some of the local clubs like Yeovil.”