He set up what looked to be the championship-winning goal, but Khano Smith ended up tasting defeat of the bitterest kind last night as the New England Revolution lost the MLS Championship final 4-3 on penalties to the Houston Dynamo.

In front of 22,000 screaming football fans at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, as expected the Bermuda striker entered the fray mid-way through the second half with the two side’s locked at nil-nil in a typically tight cup final.

And although at first he looked somewhat isolated and uninvolved wide on the left, as the match wore on and particularly in extra time, Smith’s ability to worry Houston with his pace was clear for all to see.

And with only eight minutes left of extra time, Smith beat two defenders and surged towards goal — before slipping through a delightful pass to the onrushing striker Taylor Twellman, who buried the chance with a powerful left-foot shot. But only a minute after Smith had sprinted across towards Revs manager Steve Nicol and sunk to his knees in celebration of what most assumed would be the Boston-based side’s first MLS title, the Dynamo sensationally equalised from a Brian Ching header after some sloppy Revs defending left the Houston frontman totally unmarked.

With Smith not chosen to take one of the first five penalties in the nerve-wracking shoot-out, the former Dandy Town star could only watch in horror as Houston ‘keeper Pat Onstad saved Jay Heaps’ crucial spot kick with the score at 4-3 to hand the Dynamo their first championship. Last night’s defeat was the Revs’ third championship final defeat in the last five years.

Nicol’s men reached the final last year only to lose 1-0 after injury time to the LA Galaxy — a game Smith missed through injury — while New England also made the big game in 2002 and lost.

With the MLS season now over, Smith will now return home later this week to begin preparations for Bermuda’s Digicel Cup campaign which starts in Barbados on November 19 against St. Vincent.