X-Roads junior teams made their appearance at the Virginia Cup count by putting on impressive displays at the Labour Day weekend competition, where both of them came home with silver medals.

The Premier Division’s under-11 team lost 5-2 in the elite boys final to Virginia Velocity Vortex at River City Sportsplex in Richmond. In bracket A, the Bermuda youngsters finished second with four points after picking up a 2-0 victory over FC Richmond PL and 1-1 draw with St Mary’s Soccer SMS 2016-15 Boys Red.

Meeting Virginia Velocity, a team that defeated them 4-1 in the preliminary round to decide the title, was always going to be a tough task for the island players.

While the result did not go their way, Shannon Lee and Shannon Jennings Sr’s group fought well to score twice against a side that found the target ten times in three group fixtures.

Lee was pleased with the overall performance of the team throughout the tournament.

“The boys played well, not to their full potential though,” Lee said.

“However, I told them that we have to remain together no matter what happens on the pitch. They fought hard and did the best we could.

“We had a mixed age group, so some of our younger players struggled at times with the physicality of the older boys.

“Half the team was under-10 so it was a challenge for them to play up, but credit to the boys for being brave and battling through the whole tournament.”

At Warhill Sports Complex in Williamsburg, the under-17 team finished second after picking up two wins from three matches in the boys premier.

A 2-0 triumph over Golden Ball Soccer Academy N1 was followed by a 1-0 loss at the hands of Richmond United RU RED N1, before Thaaqib Talbot and Jahkie Outerbridge’s players ended their campaign with an impressive 3-1 victory over Virginia Legacy SC N1.

Talbot gave an honest assessment of how his players performed at the two-day event.

“I am proud of the boys for the work they put in over these four days inclusive of the training days,” the coach said.

“It was extremely hot, especially the first two days where temperatures were in the 100s.

“We started the tournament well, the boys showed what they can do and it came down to the second game on the first day.

“It’s always difficult to play two games in one day and the second game on Saturday was our worst performance, as we struggled with sore legs and getting to grips with the turf pitch as it was much faster than the grass pitch we played on earlier in the day.

“We didn’t have the quality of action in that second game and it cost us in the end as we finished in second place.

“There are only learning moments in life, in victory and defeat there are lessons in both so in our post game debriefs we went over these moments so that they can benefit from them in the future.

“The mental side of the game is very important and I think this is where we need the most growth in Bermuda as we often struggle in this area, starting games slow and lapses of concentration when games get tight.

“With that said, this tournament is a good one for the boys as it’s at a level such that it’s in their grasp to win it if they do the right things, but if they don’t then they can easily lose it as well.

“I also want to thank our local and overseas guest players as they played a big part in the success of the team, the boys were able to learn from them and vice versa.

“Well done to the boys and to the parents for affording them the opportunity to build lifelong memories.”

Khomeini Talbot, the X-Roads vice-president, extended his gratitude to Richmond FC for playing a massive role in the club’s Virginia Cup participation.

“We are grateful for the continued partnership with MLS Next club Richmond FC, as they assist us greatly during our travels with logistics, access to top-class training pitches and overall assistance,” he said.

“We look forward to working together and expanding our initiatives in other related areas.”