Crystal Palace Baltimore ..... 8

Bermuda Hogges ..................1

Bermuda Hogges were on the receiving end of one of the biggest thrashings in the USL Division Two this season in Baltimore on Saturday.

Lead by braces from Matthew Mbuta and Sergio Flores, Palace romped to a lopsided win over the visiting Hogges who scored a first-half consolation through franchise player Damon Ming at the Annapolis Sports Complex.

Hogges had entered the match on a high following a hard-fought draw with Western Mass Pioneers at the National Sports Centre (NSC) last week.

But any thoughts the local outfit may have had of extending their impressive form of late were cruelly dashed as early as the 31st minute when Palace raced out to an unassailable 2-0 lead.

Mbuta put the home team ahead on 15 minutes before additional first -half tallies from Flores and Gary Brooks left the Hogges with a huge uphill battle.

Things then quickly went from bad to worse as Mbuta and Flores netted their second goals of the match just before the half to put Palace in a commanding position.

In between the carnage Hogges finally got on the scoresheet through Ming, the diminutive forward's first goal in a Hogges' uniform, in the 37th minute to make it 5-1 at the break.

In recent weeks the Hogges have demonstrated tremendous character by clawing their way back into contention after going into the dressing trailing at the half. But there would be no second-half dramatics on this particular occasion for the Hogges as Palace continued the onslaught after the interval by adding three more goals to their tally to leave the visitors virtually dead and buried.

Brooks made it 6-1 three-minutes into the second-half before Andrew Herman's 69th minute strike and Bryan Harkin's 80th minute conversation completely shattered the visitor's pride.