Bermuda national Under-20 football team thrashed the US Virgin Islands 7-0 last night to advance to the next qualifying round of the FIFA World Youth Championships without conceding a goal in three straight matches.

After beating both the Bahamas (2-0) and the British Virgin Islands (9-0) last week, Keishen Bean?s men were looking to finish off their time in the Caribbean in style ? something they achieved thanks to hat-tricks from Bean himself and Boulevard?s Angelo Simmons, while PHC?s Cecoy Robinson netted once in the 30th minute.

Urged to assert themselves in the first 45 minutes by coach Kyle Lightbourne, Bermuda did just that ? going into the break five goals to the good, which allowed them to cruise in the second half.

The team now go through to the Caribbean second qualification stage next year, when they will face much stiffer tests from Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, all of whom have a far superior FIFA ranking.

But last night Lightbourne preferred to saviour the most recent triumphs rather than look ahead, praising his squad for their ruthlessness.

?Coming into this we had absolutely no idea what to expect, so to come away with 18 goals scored and none conceded is a very good effort,? he said.

?Our toughest game by far was against the Bahamas in the first match when we won 2-0 and they had lots of chances. But we showed a lot of composure and strength in defence and did what we had to do when the chances came our way on the break.

?Against BVI and USVI we haven?t been stretched, but I told the lads before the game this was a great opportunity to get some match fitness under our belts, while it was also important to make sure that we showed our true potential, so that the likes of Jamaica and Haiti can see that we are no mugs and that we?ll give them a good game next year.?

Lightbourne said also that he was pleased with the ?strength and depth? that Bermuda now enjoyed at a junior level and hoped many of the squad would be pushing for a place in the senior squad before too long ? if they aren?t already.

?I stressed to them right at the beginning of this trip that there were places up for grabs in the full national team and if they impressed down here they could be in with a shout,? he said.

?But as a side we were very strong defensively, while going forward through the likes of Keishen and Angelo we had a cutting edge which none of the other teams could match.?