Charlotte Eagles 4

Bermuda Hogges 1

Crushed by four goals and reduced to ten-men ¿ this was a night to erase from the memory banks for Bermuda Hogges.

A moment of magic from late scorer Lashun Dill was the only highlight, while a moment of madness by Omar Shakir, who was sent-off for an elbow, was the nadir of the night.

With Eagles guaranteed a play-off berth the Hogges had hoped to exploit any signs of potential complacency, but they started lethargically and were duly punished.

Soaring temperatures delayed kick-off by 30-minutes, but the heat was still uncomfortable with both sets of players preparing by loading up on liquids.

But Messrs Lightbourne, Goater and Scope probably felt like reaching for something a little stronger with their team making the worst possible start, twice conceding in the first 11-minutes.

First jet-heeled striker Taurai Daka breached Hogges' statuesque back-line, tapping Gregg Schroader's square pass home from close range on seven-minutes.

Four-minutes later the shell-shocked visitors found themselves starring down the barrel of a gun when Jamai Sutton's 30-yard effort bulleted into the top corner, doubling Eagle's advantage.

But Bermuda's first football franchise have new-found steel about them nowadays and almost clawed their way back into the game through Ralph Bean who struck the post from a narrow angle. Any hopes of a Hogges revival were dashed on 29-minutes though, when Daka tore through to slice the ball past the on-rushing Timmy Figureido whose outstretched fingertips could not prevent the striker's double-salvo.

Trudging off the pitch at half-time as the sound system belted out epic anthem "Eye of the Tiger", the Hogges players were requiring a Rocky-esque comeback of their very own.

But they were soon leaning on the ropes and pretty much hit the canvas when in-form defender Shakir was dismissed for an elbow, when challenging chief tormentor Daka.

Looking to prevent any repeat of the 8-1 capitulation against Crystal Palace Baltimore last month, Lightbourne entered the fray as an emergency centre-half.

But the presence of the former Coventry City striker couldn't plug the Hogges' sieve-like back-line with Joe Kabwe adding a fourth on 70-minutes. President Shaun Goater praised the performance of substitute Lashun Dill but admitted the Hogges had never really got out of the starting blocks.

"I was pleased for Lashun as he has been on the bench a lot this season and he showed what he can do.

"We changed the formation to accommodate his wing play and he scored a great goal from 25-yards ¿ it was the only real highlight for us.

"We never got going and were always chasing the game. The conditions were humid and we needed to keep the ball, but made mistake after mistake.

"We missed Sammy DeGraff, who was absent due to his religious beliefs, as he is an excellent ball handler and that's what we missed."

Defender Kevin Richards is a fresh injury doubt for the Hogges with shin splints. They take on Wilmington Hammerheads in their last game of the season tomorrow night.