Chelsea's Under 16s were beaten into second place by River Plate in the final of the Cobham Cup on Sunday.

There was an intense start to the game, played on the new main Academy pitch, and River almost took the lead from kick-off after a break down the right flank by Daniel Barrios.

At the other end Chelsea's Swedish forward Marco Mitrovic hit the crossbar with a header, and it looked like it would be a final of immense entertainment and quality.

Spectators, which included Chelsea legend Ray Wilkins, the Mayor of Elmbridge, and Uefa's Director of Communications and Public Affairs William Gaillard, would not be disappointed.

The South American visitors took the lead at the start of the second half, as forward Barrios took advantage of a poor back pass to slot home.

Mitrovic and Aliu Djalo both nearly equalised but couldn't quite connect with a deep cross, while goalkeeper Jemal Blackman had to remain alert to prevent River extending their lead.

Rohan Ince should have drawn Chelsea level when he blazed over from close range, but quickly made amends in defence, blocking what would have been a certain goal.

However despite their best efforts, the young Chelsea side could not find an equaliser, and River wrapped up the victory with seconds remaining on the clock, as their forward broke clear and fired beyond Blackman.

It was a disappointing end to the day for Chelsea, but having reached the final, Dermot Drummy's youngsters could console themselves with the knowledge that they had been beaten by a superb River Plate side.

Academy manager Neil Bath summed up the mood.

'We're obviously disappointed to lose the final but it's been a fantastic occasion, and a superb standard of football, played in the right manner. It's another learning curve and all part of the boys' education,' he began.

'It's fantastic, we don't have tournaments like this in England and we really made a big effort. [Project manager] Darren Grace did a fantastic job in organising the tournament and kids from around the world go away having experienced something special.'

He was also open-minded to the possibility of the international tournament becoming an annual event. He said: 'It's something we're going to talk about, it takes a lot of time to put on such a tournament. But, we're a big club, and it's us giving our little bit back to football.'

Before the trophy was presented to River, special individual awards were handed to Josh McEachran (pictured above) of Chelsea as the tournament's best player, and Mitrovic and Barrios, who shared the Golden Boot.

In the day's other matches, Ajax came out on top against the Suwon Bluewings in a tight encounter, eventually running out 2-0 winners thanks to a brace of second-half goals. That means the Dutch side finish fifth with the Koreans in sixth.

Bayern Munich beat Right to Play Lebanon 8-1 in the game between the two fourth-placed sides from the group stages. The biggest cheer from that game came when the side from the Middle East scored their first goal of the tournament.

Next up was the third/fourth place playoff game between FC Tolyatti and the Disney Soccer Showcase All-Stars, a game in which the Russians shook off their late defeat to Chelsea in the semis and claimed the bronze medals.

In what was an even and entertaining encounter, there were three outstanding goals, all struck from outside the area.

Tolyatti took the lead in the first half with a thunderous drive, only for the Americans to better it with a crashing effort that cannoned in off the crossbar.

The game was won in the last 10 minutes, as the Russians curled in a left-footed free-kick, meaning they finished third behind Chelsea and River Plate.

And so, after three days of festival football, where Chief Scout and Director of Youth Development Frank Arnesen praised the teams for playing in the spirit of excellence, the Chelsea FC Academy International Tournament was complete.

The tournament will be remembered for some superb displays of youth football, and if this is a sign of things to come at the Chelsea Academy, we have a very bright future indeed.

By Andy Jones