Bermuda Hogges co-owner Paul Scope has thrown down the gauntlet to his charges challenging them to claw themselves away from their basement position before the season's climax ¿ starting with a win tonight against Western Mass Pioneers.

The Island's first football franchise have been rooted to rock-bottom of the USL-D2 for the season's entirety after an inauspicious start to their campaign with nine losses in their first ten outings.

But bar a humiliating 8-1 blip against Crystal Palace Baltimore the second half of the season has seen them hatch into a force to be reckoned with, posting three victories and two draws from their last eight games.

It is a renaissance period that has seen the Hogges reduce the gap to just one point behind the New Hampshire Phantoms and four points below Wilmington Hammerheads in seventh position.

And after beating the Phantoms 1-0 at the weekend, courtesy of a Omar Shakir strike, Scope is adamant the Hogges can finish on a high note and without the stigma of being league's bottom team.

"We are confident of a strong finish to the season and it was important we beat the Phantoms at the weekend ¿ the first of our four-game trip to the US," said Scope.

"We are only point behind the Phantoms and a few off Cinncinati Kings and Wilmington Hammerheads so we're looking to close the gap before the end of the season.

"Against Crystal Palace Baltimore we were guilty of being a little complacent after our recent good run and we were punished.

"Funnily enough, despite the scoreline, we didn't play that badly but they needed to improve their goals for column to qualify for a play-off spot and they succeeded in doing that."

Scope believes Western Mass Pioneers' Lusitano Stadium is the league's standout ground, generating the best atmosphere with up to 2,000 supporters attending matches.

He is expecting there to be a healthy turnout again tonight with the fixture being the Pioneers penultimate game of the season.

"It will be Western Mass Pioneers last but one game of the season so we expect there to be a full house," he added. "Their stadium is one of the biggest in the league and they attract supporters in excess of 2,000 - so it should quite a hostile atmosphere.

"They play a different brand of football than most teams in this division and have a few South American players from Argentina and Brazil.

"But we also like to play football so it should be an attractive game and hopefully we can close the gap on the teams above us even further. It would be great not to finish bottom."

Western Mass Pioneers, who were founded in 1998, have failed to taste victory in any of their last five games and are currently sixth in the table on 21 points. They finished top of the table in 2005 and are managed by Tom D'Agostino.

The Hogges will end the season with fixtures against Charlotte Eagles at Waddell High School on Friday and Wilmington Hammerheads at Legion Sports Complex on Sunday night.