THE Bermuda Hogges take on Cincinnati Kings tomorrow night in what is sure to be a fiery encounter if their last meeting is to be used as a gauge.The Hogges picked up their first points of the season against the Kings during an ill-tempered 1-1 draw at the National Sports Centre in May, courtesy of a Lloyd Holder strike.

But the match was marred when Kings president Yacoub Abdallahi was sent off for a heated verbal exchange involving Cincinnati coach John Pickup and fourth official Anthony Mouchette.

The return fixture will be played at Kings’ Town and Country Sport Complex on Astroturf — a surface similar to the artificial grass at Cleveland City Stars’ Krenzler Stadium where the Hogges succumbed to a 2-0 defeat last Friday.

Many of the players have already invested in appropriate footwear since that loss and have been training on the turf all week as they try and come to terms with the surface — which can be unforgiving as president Shaun Goater explains.

“The game against Cleveland City Stars was the first time our players have played a professional match on artificial grass and it was certainly a bit of an eye opener for a few of them.

“I wouldn’t say it had a major bearing on the result but it did take us quite some time to get to grips with the surface and we went behind after just two minutes.

“It’s a lot different from playing on grass though, as the surface is a quicker with the ball tending to run away from you. On grass the ball will always slow down at some point but on artificial grass it just gets quicker — you just can’t catch it.

“Astroturf is even harder than artificial grass so I don’t think there will be too many players going to ground for slide tackles against Kings — that stuff burns!”

It is believed England will play their Euro 2008 qualifier against Russia in October on synthetic turf, but Goater believes professional matches should be played on grass.

“To be honest I’m not for Astroturf or artificial grass being used for professional matches,” he said. “It’s great to train on as it needs little maintenance and you can work on your fundamentals fine. But once you get to a professional level than my own personal view is games should be played on grass.”

The staff and players had an ideal opportunity to watch Kings in action last Sunday when they took on Cleveland City Stars — a game they lost 2-0. And with Kings taking just ten points from their 13 games this season Hogges enter the encounter with a genuine chance of winning their first away points of the season.

The fixture will signal the end of Hogges’ ten-day trip of the US and they will return to the National Sports Centre on Monday night when they play Crystal Palace Baltimore, before taking on Cleveland City Stars on Wednesday.