Montserrat 0 Bermuda 7

(Bermuda win on aggregate 20-0)

It will go down in history as the biggest two-leg aggregate victory in Bermuda's World Cup history and perhaps one of the largest ever recorded in the CONCACAF region.

But while coach Kenny Thompson's squad poured another seven goals past the hapless Montserratians at windy Blakes Stadium yesterday afternoon, to add to the 13 they bagged at National Sports Centre three weeks' ago, nobody in the travelling party will be getting too carried away by the enormity of the final result.

El Salvador await in June and that, they can be assured, will be a much different proposition.

In the meantime, however, they can applaud themselves for a job thoroughly well done.

Goals from John Barry Nusum (2), Khano Smith (2), Clevon Hill, Ralph Bean and the increasingly impressive Damon Ming were a fair reflection of a game which Bermuda dominated from the opening whistle, although to the host's credit this win was by no means as straightforward as that of the first leg.

Montserrat, never wasting an opportunity to demonstrate the physical side of their game, battled to the final whistle, even after being reduced to ten men for the last 15 minutes after defender Ottley Laborde received a second yellow card.

And they even had the ball in the back of Bermuda's net only for referee Martin Charles of Dominican Republic to disallow it for a foul on 'keeper Troy Hall.

Given that many teams might have been tempted to sit back with the match already in the bag, coach Thompson said he was pleased with the final outcome.

"Overall, by the end I was happy," he said. "We took a little bit long to assert ourselves and get into a good rhythm and that was a little bit disappointing but in the meantime we were still scoring goals and that was positive.

"But we came here to finish a job off after having done the hard work in the first leg, and we did that. So I have to say I'm pleased.

"It was a little bit more physical today than in the first match. They (Montserrat) were very motivated. And I have to give a lot of credit to them, they played a lot better.

"Like us, they are building for the future.

"Where we want to be is not going to happen overnight and we have to take small steps, and that's all this is, another small step."

Striker Nusum, who hit the target twice in the first half to bring his overall match tally to five, agreed it had been a harder match than reflected by the score.

"To be honest I wanted to score more, but that's alright," said the burly frontman.

"I think this was tougher than the first one. They knew what we had and they were a lot more physical, in the second half particularly. A couple of times I was just walking around and they were hitting me. Yeah, this was harder than the first game."

It was Nusum who provided the home side's defence with their biggest headache in the early part of the game as he, Khano Smith and Ralph Bean all looked to cash in on a string of chances set up by the speedy flank play of Ming.

Montserrat's defenders were continually caught out of position and it was only going to be a matter of time before Bermuda opened their account with Bean, Clevon Hill and Nusum all testing 'keeper Kurt Joyce in quick succession.

It was Hill who finally broke the ice in the 14th minute, the midfielder firing into the corner of the net after a neat flick from Nusum.

That appeared to settle the nerves and within six minutes Bermuda had doubled their lead, Ming weaving his way between two defenders before threading a superb cross into the path of Nusum whose slick finish gave 'keeper Joyce no chance.

In the 25th minute Nusum was brought down on the edge of the box and from the resulting free kick Khano Smith curled a wonderful effort beyond Joyce only to watch it ricochet off the top of the crossbar.

Relying on the counter-attack, Montserrat had two long-range efforts comfortably saved by Troy Hall and just when it seemed Bermuda were content to sit on their two-goal lead, they erupted for three more in the space of five minutes before the break.

Kentoine Jennings' long punt forward in the 40th minute appeared no threat at all until Bean outpaced his marker, ran wide and with a delightful chip from an acute angle sent the ball over the 'keeper's head into the far corner.

Three minutes later Nusum rifled a shot into the roof of the net from all of 20 yards to make it 4-0 and within seconds Smith made it five with another thunderous drive.

As the teams went into the break another double digit score seemed on the cards, and that appeared even more likely when just seconds after the restart Smith extended the lead to six with a back-heel flick which wrong-footed the 'keeper and even surprised Smith himself as the ball somehow trickled into the net.

Yet, to Montserrat's great credit, they refused to throw in the towel, although increasingly their tackles became more ferocious, and in many instances, not particularly well timed.

And it was no great surprise when referee Charles showed the red card to Laborde after he had scythed down Smith for a second time.

Perhaps looking to protect his players for future combat, Thompson made two substitutions immediately afterwards ? Stephen Astwood for Nusum and Musceo Hunt for Ottis Steede.

A couple of minutes later Carlos Smith was to replace Khano Smith but not before the latter had helped seal Bermuda's win, touching a free kick to Ming who let fly with a blistering shot into the top corner.

Bermuda: Troy Hall, David Thomas, Shannon Burgess, Kentoine Jennings, Ottis Steede (Musceo Hunt 74 mins), Clevon Hill, John Barry Nusum (Stephen Astwood 74 mins), Ralph Bean, Khano Smith (Carlos Smith 76 mins), Kofi Dill, Damon Ming. Kurt Joyce (David James 74 mins), Courtney Rodney, Elton Williams, Willix Antoine, Vladimir Farrell, Kelvin Ponde, Wayne Dyer, Clifford Joseph, Dorian Harper, Ottley Laborde, Charlston Farrell (Charles Thompson 76 mins). Ottley Laborde (Montserrat), 74 mins. : Damon Ming (Bermuda), Vladimir Farrell (Montserrat). Martin Charles (Dominican Republic) : Leford Prosper, Steve Samuel (both Dominican Republic)