Domico Coddington and Antwan Russell both scored as Bermuda Hogges comfortably beat Harrisburg City Islanders last night.

The game seemed to be destined for a draw with a little less than ten minutes remaining when a slick pass from Russell spent Coddington racing clear of the Harrisburg defence.

Having shaken off the attentions of Harrisburg skipper Dustin Bixler, Coddington powered into the box and lashed his shot past Tomer Chencinski in the Islander's goal.

Coddington's finish had coach Kyle Lightbourne racing down the touchline in delight, and it got better for the Hogges boss moments later when Coddington was fouled inside the area by the hapless Bixler after Harrisburg had failed to clear their lines from a corner.

There was no question that it was a penalty, and after Coddington had been helped off the field, Russell stepped up and calmly smashed the ball past Chencinski to send the home crowd wild.

It could so easily have been three moments later when Lloyd Holder, on in place of the injured Coddington, somehow managed to scoop a shot wide from inside the six yard box.

The only disappointment for the Hogges came deep into injury time when Cody Reinberg's consolation header deprived them of the clean sheet their defensive display so richly deserved.

"I think the last goal Nigel was coming and calling for it but then backed off and it was dissappointing to concede," said Lightbourne. "It wasn't a complete team performance but I was very pleased with our individual displays.

"They worked hard, dug in and that's all we can really ask for."

Despite the goal, Lightbourne's side dominated from start to finish and were well worth their win over a team that they hadn't beaten in five previous attempts.

It was an impressive display from the Bermuda team, who grabbed their first win against one of the league's 'so-called' big boys.

Harrisburg consistently finish in the top three of the USL-D2, and coming into last night's game were top having won both their opeing games of the season.

In contrast, Hogges lost twice last weekend, and previously had only ever beaten the teams around them at the bottom end of the table.

Last night however they were more than a match for Harrisburg, and apart from having to pick the ball out of the net deep into injury time, it is likely to be one of the quietest nights goalkeeper Nigel Burgess has in a Hogges jersey.

In an uninspiring first half, neither side really found their rhythm.

The closest either team got was from long-range attempts at goal as the defences dominated the opening exchanges.

Stevie Astwood had a pop from distance for the Hogges, as did Harrisburg's Nicki Paterson.

However both sides seemed to struggle with their control and invariably the final pass was over hit, or in the case of Russell the first touch was too strong.

The Hogges striker had a frustrating start to the game, and ended up getting booked when he allowed that frustration to boil over.

Russell's angst though was nothing compared to Harrisburg's. The visiting team had an evening when they could find no way past Hogges' great white wall.

Omar Shakir and the rest of the Hogges defence were in imperious form, with Jared Peniston putting in a fine display.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with shots from distance the only real danger that either goalkeeper had to contend with.

Last year it is almost certainly a game that Hogges would have lost.

A late goal would invariably been conceded due to ill-discipline or a simple lack of concentration.

Hogges this year however appear a different proposition, and once they realised that Harrisburg were impotent up front, they started threatening more and more.

Even so, it seemed that they might fall short until Coddington and Russell popped up to fire them ahead.

Going two goals down seemed to finally shake Harrisburg from their slumbers.

But despite substitute Brandon Swartzendruber rattling the cross bar with a header, and Reinberg grabbing a consolation, Hogges held on for a well deserved win.

Bermuda Hogges (5-3-2): N Burgess – J Peniston (S Darrell, 87), D Cox, K Richards, O Shakir, B Bean – K Jennings (J Ball, 89), K Lewis (D Ming, 63), S Astwood – D Coddington (L Holder, 86), A Russell (J Smith, 89). Sub not used L Dill. Booked Russell.

Harrisburg City Islanders (4-4-2): T Chencinski – A Calvano (C Reinberg, 82), D Bixler, T Velten, G Bloes – N Paterson (A Peters, 86), D Schofield (B Swartzendruber, 58), J Pelletier (J DiRalmondo, 66), J Massie (K Kasiguran, 66) – S Fisher, C Severs. Sub not used C Harrison Booked Paterson, Schofield.

Referee: R Cann

Man of the match: D Coddington.