Bermuda's Jon Cassidy and Stuart Thompson played integral parts in the West Indies Exiles' impressive victory over reigning English Premier League and European Champions Leicester Tigers at the Henley International Sevens tournament at the weekend.

The champions started well, scoring twice from close range, but play-makers Kurt Johnson, Andy Gray and Ewan Wilson quickly began to orchestrate the comeback. Utilising their superior pace, the Exiles were able to stretch the Leicester defence across the pitch, and put their strike runners through the resulting gaps.

The Exiles first score came when former Trinidad Captain, Nigel Arismendez, currently playing for the Tigers' humble neighbours, Leicester Phoenix RLFC, touched down on the stroke of half-time.

Immediately following the restart, a massive tackle by Bermuda's Thompson gave possession back to the determined Exiles. Replacement scrum-half, Will Ellisby shot up the blind-side of the ensuing scrum to score in the corner and tie the game at 10-10.

Arismendez continued to torment the Tigers, his speed and agility taking him over for his second try and giving the Exiles the lead for the first time. Ewan Wilson added the extra points with a timely conversion, 17-10.

Cassidy and Selwyn St.Bernard came off the bench to add some fresh legs, but the Bermuda player's enthusiasm got the better of him. A quick line-out throw into the middle of the pitch was intercepted and run in uncontested to bring the scores level once again with just a minute remaining in the match.

However, Cassidy regained his composure and made amends for his error almost immediately. Changing the direction of play some 60 yards out, he wrong-footed the defence and broke free. With just the Tigers' sweeper to beat, and support slow to arrive, Cassidy bounced the ball off his knee over the hapless defender, regathered it and eventually found Jamaican speedster Geoff Gregory on his outside who crashed over for the match winner. The final score was 22-17.

Next up were reigning Middlesex and London Sevens Champions, the British Army, but the Exiles could not follow up their earlier win and went down 43-5, Jamaica's Arthur Irving sprinting in for a consolation try at the final whistle.