Cleveland City Stars 5

Bermuda Hogges 1

Bermuda Hogges ended their three-match away trip with a heavy defeat against high-flying Cleveland City Stars at a sell-out Krenzler Stadium on Saturday.

The Hogges, who had beaten Real Maryland Monarchs in their previous match, went down 5-1 with defender Johnny Ball finding the net for the visitors.

City Stars took the lead in the 10th minute through Sallieu Bundi whose rocket header gave Hogges goalkeeper Timmy Figureido no chance. They doubled their lead on 29 minutes when Mark Shulte's cross found Ryan Stewart who tapped in.

But the Hogges reduced the deficit on 34 minutes when Ball headed home Damon Ming's cross for his first goal for the franchise.

City Stars started the second period strongly but it took until the 80th minute to increase their lead with new signing Jason Hotchkin heading beyond Figureido to make the score 3-1.

The 1,933 packed house were then treated to another goal four minutes later when Kenyan international Musa Otieno showed his goalscoring prowess with a tremendous leap and flicked header to his open account for his new club.

Bundi then wrapped up the one-sided win with a right-foot tap-in before the final whistle.

The defeat has seen the Hogges slip back down to ninth in the table after Pittsburgh Riverhounds drew at home against Harrisburg City Islanders on Saturday.

Kyle Lightbourne's side travel to the US for another three-game trip on Thursday. They face Harrisburg City Islanders on Saturday before a double-header against Crystal Palace Baltimore on Sunday, August 3 and Wednesday August 6.

n Bermuda Under-20s lost against Jamaica 4-0 in the second match of their World Cup qualifiers in Cayman Islands.

Roger Lee was sent off in the 70th minute for Bermuda after picking up two yellow cards.

The Gombey Warriors' final match of the qualifiers saw them take on Puerto Rico last night.