Winger Claudius Butts propelled Guyana’s onslaught with five tries producing 25 points, while captain Theodore Henry had two tries and six conversions to add 22 points.

Of the 15 tries, Richard Staglon scored two and one each went to Elbert Jemmott, Ryan George, Alwyn Etwah, Ryan Hinckson, Kevin McKenzie and Raul Cole who celebrated his birthday, too. And of the 11 conversions, George was on target with three, and Hinckson and Staglon one each.

Guyana were across the try line within three minutes of play, with Jemmott downing the first try and Staglon converting for a seven-point start. Butts scored the second and third tries, but George was the star of the first half, converting the Butts’ second try, and one by Henry. He then scored a try and its conversion. Etwah closed the first half tries and Hinckson made good the conversion for Guyana to lead 40-0 at the break.

The second half belonged to Butts and Henry, but Staglon scored the first try in the half. Then Henry scored the conversions from tries by Butts, Hinckson, his own, Staglon and Cole.

Guyana passed the 82-0 mark that Trinidad & Tobago had registered against St Lucia, with a try by Staglon, some 33 minutes into the second half, moving from 78-0 to 83-0. Henry was good with the conversion.

Everyone was elated with Guyana’s performance, but became deflated as Barbados outplayed Trinidad & Tobago to grab championship honours, defeating the two strong teams with just St Lucia to face, which should be a formality.

Barbados registered their first set of points in six minutes of play, with Antonio Gibbons finishing a superb piece of running on the right wing from the 22-metre line. He received a neat one-hand pass at the ten-metre line and raced home for the try.

It was until the 38th minute that Trinidad & Tobago registered three points from a penalty taken by Brent Barry, but two minutes into injury time, Barbados matched it with one of their own by Stuart Copeland to take the halftime leading 8-3.

Barbados increased the lead to 15-3, within a minute into the second half with a try and a conversion. Dominic Peters had a quick break on the right and down the ball, with Copeland making good the conversion.

Nine minutes in, Trinidad & Tobago were awarded a penalty and Barry was accurate but Carlton Mitchell replied with a try four minutes later and Barbados increased the lead to 14 points, 20-6.

Thirty minutes in, Barbados took the game beyond Trinidad & Tobago with a try by Jamie Vernon, reaching 25-6.

Trinidad & Tobago began fighting back, but too late, managing a try and conversion just in the 40th minute, with Kirk Quashie getting the five points and Barry the two, reducing the score to 25-13.

Injury time followed but no more points materialised and when the final whistle sounded, Barbados began to celebrate, with the championship title in their clutches. They meet St Lucia in the first match on Saturday, while Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago will battle for second place.

Guyana’s technical director Noel Adonis said Barbados had their game plan and stuck to it.

“They had no outstanding players, but they made up with experience. Their pack was well drilled and the three-quarters protected the ball and allowed the forwards to get it back. Then they were down on the field for the physio, while getting oxygen.”

Adonis said Guyana did what they had to do, winning St Lucia by a huge margin.

“They responded well to what was asked. But that was not enough. We should have won our first game. We were depending on Trinidad & Tobago to do our work for us and they were not up to scratch.”

There were some positives in Guyana’s performance in youth players Christopher Singh, the National Under-18 captain and his deputy Rondell Keiler.

Technical director Noel Adonis beamed: “We got a lot of good individual talent. The youngsters coming into the game were more attuned to the 15s game. Chris was excellent (as the fly-off). His follow-up was perfect. He distributed the ball well.

His reading of the game and anticipation were admirable, not only his initial play but also following up to continue into the second and third steps of play. Rondell was also at a high standard. It augurs well for the future. These are players for the future.”