THE Burnden Soccer Sevens tournament, which is organised by Bolton Metro Leisure Services and Youth Service departments and sponsored by the Greater Manchester Police, culminated in an exciting final at the Burnden Sports Complex.

The final stages of the tournament were keenly contested by four teams who had fought their way through 16 teams and 10 weeks to reach the semis.

New Bury took the lead against Johnson Fold against the run of play but Johnson Fold equalised shortly after. The game was a tense affair with both sides not wanting to give much away, however New Bury found the breakthrough they were looking for with a goal seven minutes from time and managed to hang on for a 2-1 victory and book their place in the final.

The other semi final saw tournament favourites Castle Hill come up against Samba Stars from Morris Green. Samba produced the performance of the competition with a disciplined display against a strong Castle Hill outfit. With the scoreline blank at the end of full time, the game went into extra-time with the proposition of penalties looming.

At the end of the first period, the scoreline was still blank, thanks mainly to some excellent goalkeeping from both keepers, but with only minutes remaining in the second period Samba Stars scored and held on under intense pressure to book their place in the final.

Despite the terrible conditions, both teams produced an excellent final.

New Bury took the lead after 10 minutes through a well-worked goal but Samba equalised shortly after.

Both teams continued to play exciting football and it was Samba Stars who took the lead with five minutes of the game left. New Bury then pushed forward relentlessly looking more dangerous with each attack, but, with only seconds remaining and New Bury players over committed, Samba broke and put the game out of reach with a third goal.