[naviga:font color="BLUE"]Bermuda Red . . . 1

Saint-Etienne . . . 3

Bermuda's young guns emerged from their baptism of football fire with their heads held high after saving their best performance of the tournament for its top team Saint-Etienne.

Playing against one of French football's most respected youth teams was always going to a stern examination for Bermuda's boys.

The whole point of the exercise was to expose the national academy players to a level of play they have never before had to handle, and in last night's Clyde Best Invitational Tournament curtain call at BAA Field they certainly passed the test.

They could have been excused for licking their wounds after experiencing a second half mauling from West Ham 24 hours earlier – a team well beaten by Saint-Etienne in the tournament's opening night.

But Bermuda responded with a performance that was full of character, pride and with no little skill against a side who are certainly better than any under-16 Caribbean nation, a team who would also beat any American club side of the same age group.

Sure, the Islanders had to do plenty of defending against Saint-Etienne who finished the annual tournament as the only undefeated side.

But centre-half Rakeem DeShields and Co stood firm for the most part and managed to restrict the visitors to a two-goal lead by the end of a demanding first-half. Chapuis Naxence and Younes Koudri were Saint-Etienne's scorers.

Going against the grain for Bermuda's teams in this year's competition, the national academy improved offensively in the second period with winger Lejuan Simons striking the bar and utility man Daniel Andrade having a goal-bound effort cleared off the line before frontman Dunte Albuoy found the net.

It was as good a goal as the tournament has seen with Quadir Maynard's diagonal pass finding the marauding Simons whose first-time cross from the left-wing was hammered home by Albouy for his second strike of the tournament.

The French team responded immediately by restoring their two-goal advantage with Nabil Ejenovi's shot from the edge of the box giving goalkeeper Corey Richardson no chance.

They continued to dominate with their neat and efficient brand of football but if they were expecting a walk in the park in their final match of tournament then they would have been disappointed.

Bermuda Reds certainly gave them a game.

Bermuda's technical director, Derek Broadley, said he was buoyed that his players remained in the contest until the final whistle.

"We kept our structure and we kept our game style throughout and that's very pleasing for the coaches," he said.

"Saint-Etienne are a very good team but we can take a lot of positives from this game.

"We showed good character and the goal we scored is a move we have been working on in training. It was a very similar goal as the one Dunte scored in the first game (against Bermuda Grey), and similar to Nahki Wells' goal in Bermuda Under-23's 1-1 draw with Trinidad Under-23s recently."

Broadley said he had been particularly impressed with winger Quadir Maynard, defender DeShields and striker Albouy.

"I thought all the boys did well against Saint-Etienne. Quadir and Rakeem stood out again while I think Donte did well.

"I also think Daniel (Andrade) deserves a mention. He can do a job at right-back and in midfield.

"I think we will see the benefits of these games when we play teams from our region."