ASPIRING young footballers at a Colwyn Bay school got the taste of Premier League life thanks to an ongoing partnership.

Rydal Penrhos Prep School’s U8 squad travelled the Manchester City’s Etihad Academy Complex for a special Football Festival that saw the team take on sides from Cheshire and the North West in a round robin format.

Tomas Milligan, Xavier Poynton, Jenson Hodgson-Roberts, Oscar Jewsbury, James Mart, Freddie Griffin and Harrison Simmons formed the Rydal Penrhos team on the day, and all performed exceptionally well in the face of stern competition to come away from the competition with a great experience and a tremendous amount of credit.

Notable performances came during their victories against Wilmslow School and Bury, and they also fought hard during their games against Bolton and King’s School Macclesfield.

Their participation was part of the Prep School’s annual agreement with the Barclays Premier League champions, which involves a series of visits to the multi-million pound Academy site during the winter term.

Jamie McLeod, head of boys’ games at Rydal Penrhos, said: “Our U8 side, as always, got a tremendous amount of the experience and they came back from the Manchester City Academy Football Festival thoroughly motivated and inspired ahead of a busy series of fixtures.

“It is a remarkable venue that we are privileged to be involved with, and hopefully this will spur the team on to great things throughout the season from a Rydal Penrhos perspective.”