Saltus Grammar School laid down a marker during the opening day of the Canadian Accredited Independent Schools Under-13 Boys Tournament in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Thursday.

The local school won their first three matches convincingly against Royal St George, Saint Michaels University and Sacred Heart to thrust themselves in early contention for honours.

Saltus thrashed Royal St George’s 6-0 in their tournament opener at Armbrae Academy with Conor Thomas leading the charge with a brace and Chaz Edmead, Jace Postlethwaite, Zhen Van Putten and Adam Barritt also getting their names on the scoresheet.

They also ran out 6-0 victors in their second outing against Saint Michaels with Edmead netting a hat-trick and Shiloh Anderson, Mackay Browne and Van Putten converting a goal each.

Saltus then capped a sensational day with an 11-1 drubbing of Sacred Heart with Edmead and Thomas both scoring hat-tricks while Adam Cenzer, Tayte Browne, Postlethwaite, Van Putten and Barritt also got in on the scoring act.

John Barry Nusum, the Saltus coach, hailed his player’s dominant display.

“Overall the team played really well and worked hard to grab three wins on the opening day,” he told The Royal Gazette.“

The local school is being represented by a squad of 20 of the island’s most promising players who Nusum believes are capable of securing a podium finish at the event.

“We are looking to finish in the top tier divisions of the tournament and hopefully play for a podium place,” he added.

“We have some extremely strong players with a large nucleus coming from Bascome FC so they know each other really well.

“PHC, North Village and Bascome FC make up the team dynamics so there’s some good continuity in the group.”

Nusum is being accompanied by fellow coaches Timmy Figureido and Shayne Scott.

Former national team pair Figureido and Nusum also accompanied the school at last week’s Canadian Accredited Independent Schools Senior Boys Tournament at Ridley College in Ontario.

Saltus reached the quarter-finals where they were eliminated after suffering a 2-0 defeat against Trinity College.

“It was a physical game that we couldn’t get to grips with,” Nusum said.

“Fatigued played a factor with both teams so the game was sloppy but the boys acquitted themselves well.”

The Bermuda high school champions were making their first appearance at the tournament in three years.

“It was good to get back to travelling tournaments and it was a success in a sense it was a very young team,” Nusum added.

“We went there and we were competitive. We showed some fight throughout but was unlucky in a couple of games we didn’t get a win.

“But two wins, two losses and a draw is nothing to sneeze at, especially for a younger team.

“We were definitely one of the younger teams in the tournament, so hopefully they got a good experience and we can build on it for next year.”