Bermuda Hogges didn’t really set the National Sports Centre (NSC) ablaze last night. But neither did their USL opponents Harrisburg City Islanders.

Yet on an ideal night for football under the lights the visitors did just enough to throw cold water on their host’s debut in the semi-pro leagues, and rain on Hogges co-owner Paul Scope’s parade.

“We were disappointed because we were expecting a better performance tonight. We know our players are better than that, and maybe the occasion got to them a bit,” Scope lamented.

“We just have to get the guys settled down and used to playing with this intensity.”

Though not completely outclassed, the visiting Islanders were still able to expose their hosts’ shortcomings.

“You can see that they are a professional team. But this is obviously a work in progress and we have to now build on this,” Scope said.

The home team did well to keep the Islanders at bay. But after absorbing enormous pressure something just had to give.

“We almost played badly and got away with a point,” Scope added.

Islanders’ coach Bill Becher might have had reason to celebrate last night’s victory — but he was far from a contented man. “Obviously we are happy we got the result but not satisfied with the way we played tonight. We had some success early but then we tried to force everything long and that really took ourselves out of the game,” he said.

The visitors came storming out of the blocks like an Olympic sprinter going for broke, but failed to convert pressure into goals.

“We wanted to jump on them early and try and make it difficult for them to play. We wanted to make sure we came out hard at them in the beginning because we knew it was their first game and the crowd was going to be behind them,” Becher explained.

“We had a few early chances that we missed and then the game kind of settled in with either team taking chances.”

With neither team able to break the deadlock, mental toughness was always going to be a key factor in this contest. And in the end a brief moment of indecisiveness on the part of Hogges’ defender Darius Cox opened the door just wide enough for Islanders’ forward Chad Severs to deliver the bomb — and seal the home team’s fate in front of an impressive crowd at the Sports Centre.

“It was a hard-fought match and in the end we were happy to stick one in there,” Becher said.

“We were able to settle in a bit more in the second half and get the result.”

Scope, meanwhile, is confident his team can reverse last night’s tomorrow.

The former national team assistant coach reckons his troops would have gained valuable experience from last night’s match.

“I think we can learn from this,” he said.

“I think that this is a nice coincidence that we have to play against the same team twice because now we know exactly what to expect from them. And I think we can achieve a good result against them on Sunday,” he said.

“I think we have a really good chance against them and I’m also expecting a better all round performance from our guys.”

Suspended duo Shaki Crockwell and Clevon Hill, two players that know their way around the box, will be eligible to play in tomorrow’s match. And their presence just might give the Hogges the kind of lift needed to secure victory in front of the home crowd.

“We’ve got a couple of fresh players coming back who I think will help our cause, and I really think we have great chance to redeem ourselves if we play as I know we can,” Scope said.