ROVERS' youngsters take on Croatia Zagreb tonight in the final of the Northern Italian under-16s tournament after some excellent performances over the weekend.

A hat-trick from Marc Richards got Rovers off to a flying start in the competition against one of the local sides, Marianello, who were hammered 6-1. Robbie Doyle and two of Rovers' schoolboys, Anthony Martin and Mark Byrne, scored the other goals.

North American side Brooklyn were next up and beaten 1-0, thanks to a Richards strike, before Rovers, who had already qualified for the semi-finals, completed their group games with a 3-1 victory over Austria's Sturn Graz yesterday morning. Ben Chamberlain's goal gave them a 1-1 draw with another Italian team, Modena, in last night's semi-final. But Rovers went through 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out, with Anthony Martin keeping his nerve to score the decisive spot kick and set up this evening's final.

Academy director Bobby Downes said: "It is proving excellent experience for the young lads. We have played some strong teams, some of the refereeing interpretations are different than at home, pitches are difficult and they have learned a lot.

"Playing a tournament like this is probably worth a couple of months training."

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