CedarBridge Academy claimed both boys’ titles in the Senior School finals of the inaugural Bermuda School Sports Federation six-a-side football festival at the National Sports Centre’s North Field last week with a pair of 3-0 victories.

CedarBridge got goals from Ty Williams, Jahkeylo Burgess and Jahmeiko Mallory as they cruised past Berkeley Institute in the Under-16 final. Antoine Seaman was the star of the Over-16 final as he scored an impressive hat-trick to lead his team past Warwick Academy.

However, Berkeley’s girls were not going to allow CedarBridge to claim all the senior honours, as they also won 3-0. Aaliyah Nolan, a national team player, scored a brace, while Nyanjé Burgess added the third for Berkeley. More than teams took part in the tournament, competing in nine different divisions at primary, middle school and senior school level in both boys and girls.

Saltus Grammar School perfected the art of penalty shoot-outs in winning the Primary Boys B Division. Saltus’s semi-final match against Paget Primary ended in a goalless draw.

Saltus coach Richard Todd then gambled and replaced the regular goalkeeper with defender Aiden Kendall for the penalty kicks. The gamble paid off as Kendall saved three Paget spot-kicks. Saltus advanced to the final to take on Somersfield Academy, who defeated Purvis Primary 1-0 after Ayden Gardener secured the win with a second-half goal.

Saltus dominated possession in the final but could not find their way past Xavier Lee in the Somersfield goal. Kendall stepped in and saved another three spot-kicks in the driving rain as Saltus won 3-1 on penalties.

Unlike Saltus, East End Primary saved their goalscoring for the latter stages of the tournament in the Primary Girls Division. East End exploded for five combined goals in the semi-final and final to win their first girls six-a-side title.

East End finished runners-up in pool A after being held to two draws in the group matches. They took on pool B winners Bermuda High School in what was to be one of the most entertaining semi-final matches of the day. East End got goals from T’aja Williams and Jailyn Boddington, while Lara Backeberg and Katelyn Medeiros scored a goal apiece in a thrilling 2-2 draw.

Not much separated these two teams as a marathon penalty shoot-out was needed to determine the eventual winner. The other semi-final ended in a 0-0 stalemate. Purvis held their nerve as they defeated pool A winners West Pembroke in a shoot-out. East End continued their scoring ways with a 3-1 victory over Purvis Primary in the final, as Boddington led East End with two goals while Williams got on the scoresheet as well. Purvis’s lone goal was scored by Emily Cabral.

Elliot Primary defeated traditional powerhouse West Pembroke 1-0 in the Primary Boys A final. Josiah King scored what proved to be the match winner with a first half blistering shot from outside the area, which left the West Pembroke goalkeeper with no chance.

West Pembroke were runners up in pool A and squared off against fellow West Central Zone rivals Paget Primary in the semi-final. Both teams displayed a fluid and attacking brand of football, but somehow neither team could find the back of the net. After some penalty regulations were cleared up by tournament organisers, West Pembroke finished victorious after a tense and lengthy shoot-out. Pool B runners up Elliot also needed a shoot-out to defeat Harrington Sound after their semi-final match ended in a goalless draw.

Saltus won their third straight Middle School girls title after defeating TN Tatem 2-0 in the final. Saltus finished the round-robin stage of the tournament undefeated and beat Dellwood in the semi-finals. Noah Autmezguine gave Saltus the lead in the first half before tournament top scorer LeiLanni Nesbeth sealed the victory in the second half with a long-range shot.

TN Tatem took on second seed Bermuda High School in the other semi-final. Both teams pressed to find a winner but neither team could break the deadlock. TN Tatem survived the nervy penalty shoot-out to advance to the final. Autmezguine again gave Saltus an early first-half lead when her left-footed effort found the back of the net. Saltus did not have it all their way, however, and TN Tatem defended stubbornly to keep the game 1-0 until Autmezguine was brought down in the box late in the match. Nesbeth made no mistake with the resulting spot-kick to secure her team’s victory.

The dreaded penalty shoot-out was once again used to determine the under-13 boys final. Sandys claimed the title after Kambré Swainson-Robinson saved his Clearwater Middle School counterpart’s spot-kick in sudden death. Sandys had earlier edged their way into the play-offs when they needed to win their final pool match 4-0.

Sandys did not look back once they qualified for the play-offs, defeating all who came before them. Their final with Clearwater finished in a goalless draw. Sandys found things a bit easier in the semi-finals as two second-half goals saw off a spirited Dellwood Middle School.

Kymani McNeil opened the scoring for Sandys with perhaps the finest individual goal of the day. During Sandys’ first attack in the second half, McNeil cleverly flicked the ball around his marker before calmly scoring past the advancing Dellwood goalkeeper. Zaire Smith sealed the victory with a thunderous free kick.

Clearwater reached the final after defeating Somersfield Academy in a shoot-out after a 1-1 draw. Clearwater took the lead through Malaki Trott before Alex Withers Clarke equalised for Somersfield.

Dellwood Middle School edged by Sandys Secondary Middle School 1-0 in the over-13 final. The final was a tight affair as both teams pressed hard looking for the elusive winner. The driving rain made the task all the more difficult. Dellwood found the breakthrough early in the second half after they were awarded a free kick just inside the Sandys half of the field. Jahseiko Martin Richardson stepped up and drove a low shot, which found the back of the net after a deflection from the wall.

Sandys pressed for an equaliser and came close on a few occasions. Dellwood had defeated Warwick Academy earlier in the semi-finals 1-0, while Sandys won yet another shoot-out over TN Tatem after a 0-0 draw.