Bermuda Hogges 0

Har’burg City Islanders 1

The Bermuda Hogges era got off to an inauspicious start at the National Sports Centre last night as the Island’s new pro team lacked fluency and penetration in losing by a single goal to the Harrisburg City Islanders.

Despite the introduction of both Shaun Goater and Kyle Lightbourne as substitutes in the game’s latter stages, shots on goal were few and far between for the United Soccer League’s newest franchise, who looked every inch like a team who have only been training together for the past three weeks or so.

An uncontested 71st-minute header off the brow of Harrisburg forward Chad Severs in the 71st minute — following some chaotic Hogges defending — was enough to give the visitors the three points, though in truth they would have had four or five more goals had they shown a little more ruthlessness in front of goal.

On a positive note, a respectable crowd of around 1,200 spectators generated a decent atmosphere for the Hogges’ first home game on a balmy night at the NSC, although the team’s owners will no doubt be hopeful they can attract a slightly bigger turn-out on tomorrow afternoon when the two teams clash once again.

With the kick-off scheduled for 1 p.m. tomorrow, it will certainly be easier to see the players in action than it was last night.

Despite assurances from the Trustees that the floodlight quality would easily be good enough for football at this level, the reality unfortunately was the opposite — with large dark shadows being cast over the corners of the pitch where two poles are currently out of action.

That aside, the crowd did well to remain upbeat throughout the 90 minutes, as the clearly under-cooked Hogges — who were missing seven of their 23-man squad yesterday of a variety of reasons — laboured to keep hold of the ball or create many obvious chances against a well-organised outfit who looked far more dynamic during the game’s early stages.

Predictably perhaps for a fledgling team just starting out in a new league, defensively the Hogges were hesitant and unsure of themselves all evening and might have been more heavily punished had the luck had not been with them.

Far too often the back four were caught hopelessly flat and on numerous occasions they were forced to scramble back in desperation as Islanders’ long balls caught them square and high up the pitch.

Luckily for the Hogges, the visitors found it difficult to adjust the weight of their passes to the lightning-fast surface at the NSC, with the ball more often than not ending up in the safe hands of the alert Timmy Figureido rather than at the feet of an onrushing Harrisburg attacker.

Even still, the Islanders will know that they should have made more of their opportunities.

After only six minutes, striker Brian Delvin somehow blazed the ball over the bar from close range when it would have been easier to score after being found by a short, square cross from the left, while in the second half particularly they squandered at least four clear chances to turn the screw.

The Hogges, meanwhile, had their first decent attack after 15 minutes as a well-worked exchange of passes found Ming on the left-flank, who quickly cut inside the fullback before unleashing a right-foot shot which ploughed into the side netting — bringing many in the stands to their feet in celebration thinking it had gone straight in.

Upfront the Hogges’ other franchise player Stephen Astwood worked his socks off all night and looked as if he was going to give the Harrisburg back line some headaches until he began to tire slightly and became isolated.

Attempting to inject some spark, Lightbourne swapped things around at half-time, replacing Robert Wilson at right back with Jelani Scott — whose preferred position is in the middle of the park — and swapping captain Ming over from the left flank to the right-hand side of midfield to get more involved in the action.

The changes didn’t appear to make any significant difference to the Hogges’ attacking threat, however, and it was unsurprising when Goater was brought on in the 65th minute to make his Hogges debut — with the introduction of the Manchester City legend greeted with rapturous applause from those all around the ground.

Not one minute after he’d come on though, the Hogges almost went a goal behind as a surging run from Harrisburg skipper Chris Morman ended with his stinging shot being brilliantly saved at point-blank range by a sprawled-out Figureido.

But the Hogges’ defensive frailties were finally exposed only moments later, as Darius Cox dithered on the ball at left back and allowed Matt Tanzini to strip him of possession before crossing for a totally unmarked Severs to nod passed Figuerido.

As the game drew towards a close, Lightbourne brought himself on in place of Ralph Bean jr up front and the Hogges at least tried to take the game to their opponents.

Both Goater and Lightbourne were almost inevitably involved in one or two of the more promising moves as they pressed for an equaliser, but with Harrisburg defending in numbers and giving the Hogges very little time on the ball, a goal always looked unlikely.

The Islanders now have four points from two games in the USL second division after drawing their season opener against the Wilmington Hammerheads last week.

Bermuda Hogges: T.Figureido, D, Cox, R.Wilson (J.Scott), D.Zuill, J.Peniston (83), D.Ming, O.Shakir, L.Dill (D.Coddington 70), R.Bean (S.Goater, 65 minutes), M.Parsons Harrisburg City Islanders: M.Nelson Booked: L.Dill, D.Coddington (Hogges)

Harrisburg City Islanders: M.Nelson, S.Fischer (M.Tanzini), D.Bixler, T.Velten, R.Pierce, D.Schofield, B.Devlin (D.McClellan), C.Morman, A.Calvano, J.Bolton, S.Severs

Booked: L.Dill, D.Coddington (Hogges)