A shout from the bench close to the end of Bermuda's win against Denmark under 23s on Tuesday night summed up the effort that had gone into it.

It didn't come from technical director Clyde Best, nor one of his coaching staff, but from the scorer of the second goal in the 2-0 victory, Keishon Smith.

Smith, withdrawn minutes earlier to give Ascento Russell a taste of the action, was chiding Meshach Wade as the Vasco midfielder got his breath back after yet another run forward to support his attack.

"You're walking Meshach, you're walking,'' he scolded as the tie moved into stoppage time.

Man-of-the-match Wade, who had run up and down the field throughout the 90 minutes prompting and encouraging as if attached to his own portable generator, might have had reason to take offence, but seemed not to. What both seemed to realise was that they were working together in the lengthy journey to put Bermuda back on the footballing map.

Unfortunately, that togetherness might be seen to be born out of adversity.

"That's something we try to encourage,'' said Best afterwards. "We say, hey, we're in this together. Half of the people in Bermuda probably want us to lose, so if we stick together and we play together, we're going to win.'' Lest it be suggested that Best has a chip on his shoulder, look at the evidence. There's more life among spectators at the average Second Division match than there was at a windswept BAA on Tuesday.

Even given that Bermuda's first goal, like their strike in the first game on Sunday, was inadvertently directed into his own net by a Danish defender and Smith's second was scrappy, neither drew more than an appreciative murmur from the crowd at BAA Field.

And attendances at the four international games arranged by the Bermuda Football Association in the past month have been scandalously low. Best is resigned to it -- but remains optimistic: "It's the Bermuda mentality and it's to do with the clubs. We find a lot more people from overseas are cheering for us than our own local people and to me that's really amazing,'' he said.

"It could only happen in Bermuda. If this had been England, they'd have still been singing.

"But we have to break that down. We know deep down inside we have the makings of something special. The main thing is we're making progress and it's going to take a while for people to realise it. We're going to surprise a lot of people.'' More performances like this one may help.

Injuries have forced Best to chop and change his side in the quartet of games against the Scandinavians and Antigua with 20 players utilised.

But on Tuesday night the balance certainly seemed right, with a back three of captain Shannon Burgess, Kofi Dill and Clifford Roberts restricting the Danes to mainly long range efforts, while wing backs Stanton Lewis and Andrew Rahman found varying degrees of space on the flanks.

And while Wade was whirring away in midfield, Kenny Mills was sparking occasionally up front. The PHC striker showed some lovely touches which, allied to his acceleration, made him a handful for the Danish back line.

Mills, who scored on his international debut against Antigua, would probably be the first to admit he should have also netted against Denmark.

And Best acknowledged his anxiety in front of goal was disappointing after his impressive approach play.

"Kenny did okay,'' he said, "but he should have had two goals. This is international soccer, it's something that is new to him. He's learning and I told him: when you get in front of the goal and it's just you and the goalkeeper, take your time.'' Bermuda moved up five places to 180 in the latest international rankings released by world governing body FIFA yesterday. The new position is their highest since August last year.