A dynamic and free-scoring Bermuda breezed through to the next stage of the Digicel Cup last night after annihilating the hosts in a farcically one-sided encounter in St. Thomas.

While coaches Kyle Lightbourne and Paul Scope were anxious beforehand that the incredibly poor pitch at the Lionel Roberts Stadium would make life more awkward than it should be, the opposition turned out to be so pathetically weak ? despite the earlier posturing of USVI head coach Daryl Rogers ? that in the end it made little difference.

Midfielder Kwame Steede grabbed two on the night, his first coming after only 30 seconds, while an inspired double from Domico Coddington and solitary strikes by John Barry Nusum and Keith Jennings completed the rout ? though in all honesty there could have been five or six more given the wealth of opportunities that Bermuda created.

With the British Virgin Islands having dropped out of the competition last week, Bermuda?s easy win means they have already qualified for the next round as one of the top two teams in the group and will be back in action in November, potentially against the likes of much stronger sides like Jamaica and Haiti.

As well and as fluidly as Bermuda played last night, however, they were up against a team who would struggle to give one of the better Premier Division sides a decent game, and Lightbourne knows there will be many stiffer challenges ahead ? starting with the Dominican Republic tomorrow night.

While Caribbean Cup sponsors Digicel boasted beforehand that the stadium would be close to capacity for the opening game, the reality was that on a sticky and humid night players and officials combined almost outnumbered paying spectators and apart from the odd deafening blast from a sound system which sent shock waves through anybody within 100 yards of it, the atmosphere was distinctly flat.

As expected, Bermuda?s starting XI saw Timmy Figureido preferred to Nigel Burgess in goal, while the London-based Kevin Richards, skipper Kentoine Jennings, Darius Cox and Stanton Lewis made up the back four.

But it was in midfield and upfront where Bermuda looked particularly strong, with the electric Coddington and Devaun DeGraff on the wings, Stevie Astwood sitting in just behind the strikers and Kwame Steed staying central to act as the main distributor.

Attacking the end where the baseball diamond was located in the first half, Bermuda?s night got off to a spectacular start through Steede, who latched on to Coddington?s pass to turn and volley majestically past USVI ?keeper Bryce Pierre less than a minute into the game.

Taking advantage of the oceans of space afforded to them in midfield, Bermuda bombarded the hosts? defence almost the entire 45 minutes, with USVI rarely getting passed the halfway line as Bermuda pressed and pressed through their wide variety of attacking options.

And it was Coddington who made it 2-0 on 29 minutes, just beating the ?keeper to a 50-50 ball on the right hand side of the six-yard box and toe-poking it into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Seven minutes later, and with the USVI looking increasingly demoralised by Bermuda?s overwhelming possession, Steede claimed his second of the night by rising unchallenged to meet a corner from the left, before the hard-working Nusum got on the scoresheet just before the half?s conclusion when the Virginia Beach Mariners forward out-muscled three USVI defenders in a penalty area scrap and found the target with a low right-footed shot.

It was going to take more than an inspiring half-time team talk for the home team to get anything vaguely positive out of the game, and in the second half Bermuda went about hammering the nails into their opponents? coffin.

Coddington secured his second of the night after 53 minutes, when he beat the ?keeper one on one after collecting a long ball over the top of the flat-footed USVI defenders.

And though Bermuda did not register their sixth and final goal until four minutes before the end through substitute Keith Jennings? near-post header, Figureido was only forced to make one save all night as USVI?s attacks remained limp and easy to breakdown.

The one slight disappointment of the game was that Khano Smith, despite a number of reasonable chances, was not able to get on the scoresheet in a rare 90 minutes on the pitch since coming back from a knee injury.

He contributed in many other ways and like Coddington, was a constant threat with his pace and dribbling ? though a goal would have done wonders for his confidence as the New England Revolution forward continues to search for the sharpness which long-term injuries often dulls.: B.Pierre, T.Jones, D.Villafana, D.Thomas, (D.Ferrance 67) C.Degrasse, J.Perez, K.Cornelius, J.Browne, R.Eddy, J.Monty (P.Bettinger 58) T.Figureido, K.Richards, K.Jennings, D.Cox, S.Lewis, D.Coddington, K.Steede (J.Jennings 69), S.Astwood (K.Jennings 28), D.DeGraff (K.Bean 59), JB Nusum, K.Smith : K.Richards (Bermuda) D.Villafana (USVI) : K. Steede (Bermuda) No one (USVI): Ryon Small (Barbados)