The Berkeley Institute defeated Warwick Academy 2-1 to win the Bermuda School Sports Federation Senior School Girls football tournament at the North Field, National Sports Centre, last night.

Berkeley got the much needed breakthrough in the 20th minute when Evans Welch took a shot from distance and caught Warwick goalkeeper Giana Cedenio off her line, but their advantage did not last long as Ayshalay Simons equalised in dazzling fashing ten minutes later when scoring direct from a free kick.

Berkeley regained the lead ten minutes into the second half when Keyandae Lightbourne pounced after Cedenio, the Warwick MVP, spilt the ball into her path.

Kalila Daley, the Berkeley MVP, saw her effort smash into the cross bar three minutes before the end before Kalila Daley, who tormented Warwick with her pace down the left, came close again with a minute remaining, only to be denied by Cedenio.

Senior Berkeley players A’Maya DeRosa and Chiaje Rudo were excited to win the competition in their last year of high school.

“I'm very happy as this is our senior year, so we’re glad to bring home a win,’’ said Rudo, the Berkeley head girl.

“We are champions again after an undefeated season. We haven't lost to anyone and we also won the six-a-side tournament.

De Rosa was also thrilled with the win.

“We are glad to end on a win and on a good note,’’ DeRosa said.

Samara Darrell, the Warwick captain, was happy with her team’s effort and that they managed to reduce the margin of defeat after losing 5-1 to the same opponents during the course of the season.

“I'm really proud of us for putting up a fight,’’ Darrell told The Royal Gazette.

“When we played them during the season we lost 5-1, which was disheartening, but we came back from that and we got a lot better. Even though we lost, it was still a good game and we put up a good fight.

“We started off strong in the first 15 minutes with no goals conceded which was our goal.

“Unfortunately, we conceded and we didn't let that get us down. Ayshalay Simons came up with a nice corner, which brought up our spirits and we finished the first half as a draw, so we were able to reset second half.

“The second half was a bit harder for us as the wind was going against us. Stringing together passes became difficult and when we tried those long balls, they weren't happening.

“As the game went on we started to fatigue and it became much more difficult to get back into the match.’’