What is thought to be the longest penalty shootout in Bermuda’s football history was needed to decide a gruelling contest between the East and West Under-18 squads.

After the two teams had battled to a 1-1 draw in regulation time, with the East only just escaping defeat after getting an equaliser from Shawn Brown, the teams entered into penalty kicks to decide the winner — and little did they know that 26 rounds would be needed. The West eventually emerged winners by a 18-17 score.

The game had started off with the West taking a lead through Nahki Well.

David Sabir, general secretary of the Bermuda Football Association, recalled the event yesterday and reckoned it to be an evening filled with electricity with the large number of fans completely overwhelmed by the proceedings.

“The large crowd on hand certainly did witness a scintillating round of penalty kicks, those that scored as well as those that missed all kept fans at the edge of their seats,” said Sabir. “The 26 rounds certainly must be a record for Bermuda football but what made the night quite astonishing was the tremendous emotion that reverberated through the crowd when it appeared that one team had taken an advantage only to see that hold change after another kick was taken. It was most definitely a wonderful occasion to end a weekend of youth football.”

MVP for the West 15-year-old Tahj Bell felt it was a breath-taking experience, the Bermuda Institute student reassuring that it was indeed one of the most exciting games he has ever played.

The goalkeeper, a supporter of Manchester United who would like to be a professional footballer one day, said that he was so caught up in the emotion that he couldn’t exactly remember how many saves in regulation or during penalty kicks that he pulled off.

“All I can remember is being involved in the excitement and going into goal and attempting the make a save when I was called on to do it, it was definitely my most exciting moment in football,” he said.

The coach of the winning team was Marlon Rojas.

In the Under-15 final the crowd was provided with wonderful attacking and defensive display of football between BAA and Dandy Town Hornets, characterised by a high degree of counter-attacking, combined with quality saves by both teams. At the end of the day, it was the Hornets emerging victorious 1-0.

In the Under-13 final The Academy and Somerset Trojans also needed penalty kicks to decide it, with The Academy coming out victorious.

[bul] The BFA’s Girls Youth Division Under-12 All-star soccer tournament on Saturday saw the West come from behind to defeat their East counterparts by a 4-2 margin at Berkeley. The East led 2-0 with Kelchi Jones and Rachel Smith netting. However the West fought back like tigers with Aaliyah Nolan spearheading their recovery with a hat-trick while Esaiah Lister delivered the other goal.

Coach of the West was Wendell Furbert while Paul Fisher was his assistant. Troy was in charge of the East with Marsh Smith assisting.