Charlotte Eagles 6

Bermuda Hogges 0

Under-strength, under-prepared and now under no illusions of the long, hard season ahead, once again Bermuda Hogges were on the receiving end of the harsh realities of life in USL-D2 on Saturday.

Harsh realities not aided by the absence of half-a-dozen squad members and head coach due to FA Cup final duty, not to mention the paltry amount of pre-season training sessions Hogges have managed to hold.

With all that taken into account, this kind of miserable scoreline against an extremely efficient Eagles side was always a distinct possibility.

In fact, when the game ended eight minutes prematurely because of floodlight failure, it seemed like the football gods had taken pity on the Hogges and decided to put them out of their misery.

The only consolation to come from Saturday's hammering was that it was only the first game of the season, a game against the division's perennial favourites, a game no-one realistically expected the Hogges to win.

But even from the ever-so early evidence provided at TransAmerica Field, it's clear the same problems that plagued the Bermuda team last term still exist, and threaten to persist in undermining Hogges' flair and flamboyance unless they compliment their pretty passing with an ugly edge.

Because it's surely time for their players to take stock after watching a team of Christian missionaries, as Charlotte Eagles are, display far more 'devil' and bite in the tackle than they did.

Just ask Hogges' striker Ralph Bean who was 'taken out' after a menacing lunge by an Eagles defender on 15 minutes.

Perhaps the Hogges' hierarchy should have also displayed a more selfish streak and demanded that the likes of Omar Shakir and Kevin Richards suit up for the franchise rather than their clubs. Like it or not, in terms of the betterment of Bermuda football, this match was more important than PHC against Dandy Town.

Whether the full-blooded foul on Bean was intentional was beside the point. His forced withdrawal with a shoulder injury succeeded in disrupting Hogges' rhythm and tempo and left their threadbare reserves, well . . . even more threadbare. A squad of just 15 players travelled to Charlotte.

As crazy as it may sound, considering the lop-sided nature of Eagles' victory, Hogges had been the better side for the first 20 minutes. Seriously.

But just when it seemed they had accomplished the hard work and earned the right to play, some calamitous defending gifted Eagles veteran 'fox in the box' Dustin Swinehart the first of his four goals.

During the build-up both Darius Cox and Robert Wilson lost their footing on the slippery surface, as did many of their team-mates throughout, leaving Shaun Goater seething when it materialised most of the players had been wearing moulded, or bladed, studs despite the intermittent showers.

Hogges then survived a scare when Jonah Long rattled Timmy Figuerido's crossbar from distance, before the impressive Kofi Dill was called to make a superb sliding challenge on Swinehart when through on goal.

Smelling Hogges' fear whenever they attacked their flanks, Eagles exploited that weakness and doubled their advantage when Jorge Herrera beat Jabrel Tucker on the by-line and pulled back for Swinehart to stroke home on 39 minutes.

Hogges' were looking visibly crushed and increasingly frustrated that they had failed to take advantage of their enterprising opening and there was a sense a second-half capitulation could be on the cards.

Soon after the re-start Swinehart hammered home for his hat-trick after Figuerido had parried a Ben Johnson drive on 49 minutes, and Dill then played Kwame Steede into trouble with a needless pass allowing Taurai Daka to race through and finish with a delicate chip ten minutes later.

With Hogges' shapeless defence all at sea, the superb Swinehart struck again on 63 minutes, before Herrera completed the rout on 69 minutes. The referee then called the players from the field due to fog before the floodlights mercifully decided they had seen enough on 82 minutes.

Despite the scale of the drubbing in reality it does very little damage to Hogges' hopes and aspirations for 2008. Their squad is undoubtedly better equipped and Kofi Dill showed enough against Eagles to suggest he will make a telling impact at this level.

Furthermore, deploying Stevie Astwood as a holding midfielder also appears to be an experiment worth persevering with, and with John Barry Nusum, who replaced Bean, demonstrating his experience and know-how, Hogges have a far stronger spine than last season.

With the increased competition high profile names may now have to be sacrificed as the Hogges' search for the right blend of personnel, while developing a winning mentality and a loathing for losing.

Bermuda Hogges: T.Figureido, D.Cox, R.Wilson, K.Dill, J.Tucker (L.Holder 56), S.Astwood, S.DeGraff, K.Bean (D.Coddington 56), D.Ming, R.Bean (J.Barry Nusum 16) K.Steede

Yellow card: S.Astwood

Man-of-the-match: K.Dill

Hogges co-owner Shaun Goater's comments - Page 24