East met West in blustery conditions at the National Sports Centre (NSC) on Friday night. And what ensued was a night of one-sided Bermuda School Sports Federation (BSSF) All-Star football as the East claimed victory in three out of the four contests.

With a strong northerly wind blowing across the stadium, teams playing into the wind found themselves at a huge disadvantage and pinned in their own half for long spells.

Those conditions largely contributed to Caty Luckhurst scoring directly from a corner kick to earn the East a 1-0 win in the inaugural Senior Girls? All-Star match while an opportunistic strike from Jessie Seymour, playing with the wind at his back, gave East a 1-0 win in the Senior Boys? contest.

East also took full advantage of the conditions, notching three second-half goals, to record a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over the West ? who also scored with the wind at their backs in the first half ? in the Boys? Middle School clash.

The only match in which teams failed to cash in on the wind was the night?s opening Primary School Boys? game which saw the West record a 3-0 penalty shoot-out victory over their eastern counterparts after the teams had remained deadlocked at the end of regulation.

?It was very unfortunate the players had to play in such conditions. We had so many things in place that we had to make a decision at a certain time and at that particular time of day we thought it would be okay to go ahead and schedule the matches,? explained BSSF administrator Manny Faria.

?But despite the conditions I thought the turnout was pretty good and the players themselves did well to try and play football in those conditions.

?Unfortunately, however, every game was one-sided with teams barely able to manage a shot at goal playing into the wind. But it was good to see the senior girls get off the ground and go really well. They were really excited to play and hopefully this is the beginning of a long run of girls? All-Star football.?

Luckhurst?s second-half strike directly from a corner at the southern end saw East go down in the record books as the first ever champions of local girls? senior school football.

East coach Richard North was delighted to see his players execute their game plan to perfection.

?Our strategy was obviously to defend in the first half and keep the ball on the floor as much as we could,? he explained. ?And as you saw we had problems even getting the ball out of our own half and sometimes goal kicks went out for a corner.

?So it was extremely difficult playing in those conditions. But I was really pleased how my girls pulled together and played as one unit.?

West?s best chance fell to Lady Cougars? prolific striker Cheyra Bell who watched in agony as her firmly driven shot came back off the upright in the first half.

The NSC woodwork would also play a key role in Seymour?s game winner for the East in the Senior Boys? All-Star match, the Mount St.Agnes student pouncing onto an Oronde Bascome rebound that came back off the post and making no mistake from close range.

A Shane Hollis first-half penalty miss further compounded West?s woes.

?Our plan all along was to win the coin toss and go against the wind first and try to keep the opposition from scoring and apply the pressure in the second half,? commented East coach and PHC Zebras stalwart Stanton Lewis.

?We didn?t really allow them (West) too many chances and in the end we managed to capitalise on ours.?

In a highly entertaining Boys? Middle School All-Star match, Damali Bell scored a gem of a goal to cancel the West?s lead and ignite his team?s second-half revival and ultimate triumph.

West had earlier led through a Corey Richardson strike from inside the area while Troy Tucker and Tymon Daniels rounded off the scoring for the victorious East.

?Damali is going to be a special one,? commented East and Dandy Town coach Devarr Boyles afterwards. ?We were actually trying to get the ball to him for the entire match and he was able to get the first goal for us which was very important. I always felt we just needed to score and once we did it settled the group and the rest is history.

?We talked about the wind factor and keeping the ball all along the ground. And I also thought we had players with good technique though the conditions just didn?t allow the fans to see what I saw in training through the week.?

In the Boys? Primary School match, West put an end to the East?s three-year stranglehold on the cup.

?We finally got over that hurdle,? victorious West coach and North Village full back Damon Edwards told . ?I thought our boys played well, particularly in the second half when we had more of the play.?

West also survived a couple of close calls, East hitting the woodwork and then having another effort cleared off the line before their opponents finally settled the issue from the penalty spot.

Justin Corday, Dominick Wright and captain Tre Manders were all on target for the West from the penalty spot.

?It was a good match and I thought my ?keeper (Toreek Swan) did well and centre half Bruce DeGrilla had an excellent match sweeping,? Edwards added.