Bermuda’s rugby sevens team came close to picking up a victory but ended the Junior Pan American Games tournament winless after two days of tough competition.

After a difficult first day featuring losses to Argentina (51-7), who are ranked fourth in the world, host nation Paraguay (24-0) and Trinidad & Tobago (28-12), Bermuda were playing for places between fifth and eighth on day two.

It was their first match yesterday that they will be left looking back on with regret as they lost 12-10 to Mexico in the tightest game of the men’s competition.

Coach Chris Naylor’s outfit held the lead 10-5 at half-time, thanks to tries from captain Aiden Kendall and Daunte Noel-Simmons, but a converted try by Mexico with just 1min 23sec left broke hearts and meant Bermuda’s last match against Trinidad was to avoid the wooden spoon.

Despite Nyindae Smith and Noel-Simmons crossing the tryline in their final game of the tournament, Bermuda conceded four tries as Trinidad ran out 24-10 winners.

Naylor knew that Bermuda were underdogs heading into the tournament, but was still a touch disappointed by their failure to record a win.

“It was another tough day today, but we had our chances against Mexico,” Naylor said.

“We should have won that game. There were a couple of poor decisions right at the end that played into Mexico’s hands and they got a really late score to win.

“We were absolutely gutted to lose because that would have pushed us up a couple of places.”

Defeat by Mexico meant they renewed acquaintances with Trinidad, whom they had played 24 hours previously, with the result again going against Bermuda.

“By the time of that game we had lost Jayson Simons, who had a really good tournament, through injury. We were down to just ten fit players — and it was tough.”

Naylor admits the squad is disappointed to have finished the tournament without a win and last of the eight teams involved.

“The guys are disappointed with eighth spot,” he said. “We were ranked eighth going in but we had some hope. But it’s not all negative as we are proud of some of our performances against teams ranked far higher than us in the world.

“We’ve had a fantastic experience at the Games. It has opened the eyes of the youngsters and myself being part of a Games this big. It’s been great for our development.”

Charlotte Millington ended her campaign by finishing 32nd in the cycling road race.

Millington, who was Bermuda’s sole entrant in the race against some powerhouse South American countries fielding multiple riders, rode well to finish just 43 seconds behind winner Venturella Benedetti, from Argentina, who came out on top in a sprint finish of a five-rider breakaway.

The Bermuda cyclist crossed the line in 2hr 51min 19 sec and averaged 37.1km/h during the 108km race on the waterfront in Asunción and was pleased with her performance.

“It went really well,” she said. “I attacked a couple of times, once with 3km to go alongside two Cubans. We went off the front but obviously got caught and I was cooked at that point. But it was great that I was able to hang in with the group considering some of those riders are five years older than me.”

This was the toughest race Millington, 17, had been a part of and it took some time for her to get used to the fear factor of racing in a big field.

“I set a personal best for 100km, so it was definitely not slow,” she said.

“I’m not fearless but I found it hard to go from four people in a race in Bermuda to 40 people and touching the bars of the person next to you. It definitely takes a lot of effort to be near the front. I know people at home are going to wonder why I was sat at the back for two laps, but it’s a fear thing.

“The first time I've ever raced in a big field was three months ago in Uruguay and it’s going to be something that comes with practice. It was definitely better than there, but I still have a long way to go.”

As well as learning to overcome her trepidation, Millington has gained plenty of experience during her time in Paraguay.

“I’m definitely taking away the fact that I’m able to hang in there,” she said.

“That is a huge positive and I also didn’t quite meet the goal from a fuelling perspective, so that is something we can work on in training. Obviously, my training has worked but you can always do more and, realistically I can come back to do Junior Pan Am Games in four years.”

Millington is heading to Loughborough University in England this summer and is looking forward to continuing her riding career overseas.

“I’ll be heading to the UK in September and will carry on riding at university,” she said.

“It will be a great experience over there learning to ride with different people.”