AMERICAN youngsters cemented their special relationship with York when they beat their British colleagues at their own game.

The Aggies, a group of children from Utah, took on an Elvington under-12s and U13s team at football and triumphed 8-4.

Angus Richardson scored a hat-trick for Elvington but Ranger Keckler, Johnny Gauguadarrama, Jared Valez and Larry Hernandez were among the Aggies’ goals.

The US lads, many of whom had never been on a plane before their trip to Britain, raised $60,000 to realise their dream of playing football in England and are enjoying a ten-day trip supported by Nether Poppleton firm Inspire 2 Independence.

The U13s outfit have been helped by former York City footballer, and i2i head of sport, Marco Gabbiadini, who has held a training session with the youngsters and has assisted them throughout their trip.

He said: “They did really well. Elvington played a mixed under-12s and U13 outfit in the first half as the lads were suffering a little bit with jetlag and Elvington made a much better game of it in the second half, when it was 4-3.

“The American boys were very nervous beforehand. They have great respect for English football and they are absolutely loving their trip. They are really soaking it all in and are staying with English families.”

The Aggies were also playing Sunderland Foundation U13s and a York Schoolboys XI before signing off with a game in Manchester.