To kick-off my debut column with The Royal Gazette, I must start by talking about Bermuda's victory over Cayman Islands in our recent World Cup qualifier.

The pressure was on us to get the job done down there and credit to the guys, we all pulled through together - it was a real team performance.

To be honest I didn't have much of a game and my touch just wasn't there. I read in the newspapers before the game that their coach had singled me out for 'special attention' and I suppose that comes with the territory when you play in the MLS.

I must have been fouled about 15 times and I think I've still got the bruises to prove it!

Despite it not being my finest performance for the national team, I still feel I contributed through my extra experience as a professional. But I can assure you, even I was taken by surprise by the atmosphere inside their stadium.

That atmosphere was intense and the Cayman players really fed off the crowd's energy, especially during our early sticky spell. I remember looking up into the stands and thinking that the whole island must have turned out to get behind their team!

Obviously some of our younger players were very nervous and to be fair to them they wouldn't have played in a match with such a red-hot atmosphere before. It will certainly be a good learning experience for them.

As a senior player it's part of my role to try and settle down some of the younger guys and get them playing to our game plan. Even when I'm not firing on all cylinders I still believe I can have an influence.

Once Sammy DeGraff opened the scoring I felt we were never in danger of letting the game slip. Sammy's goal took the crowd out of it and that was so important.

Now we're looking forward to the challenge of taking on Trinidad and Tobago and I'll be sharing my thoughts on Bermuda's chances in this column over the coming weeks. I certainly don't think they're unbeatable.

Obviously the Cayman match clashed with New England Revolution's opening match of the season, a 3-0 win over Houston Dynamo.

Our coach Steve Nicol put me straight back into the team against Chicago Fire, but unfortunately my appearance was short-lived when Jeff Larentowicz was shown a harsh red card.

I was sacrified for tactical reasons but I was pleased with my performance against Kansas Wizards on Wednesday, which saw us return to winning ways with a 3-1 victory.

I set up one of our goals with a dribble and cross for Sainey Nyassi to score. It's always nice to solidify a performance with an assist and I'm pleased with the start of the season I've made.

I've got a good feeling about the Revs' season and although we lost a few players from last year I actually believe we have a stronger squad this time around. Colorado Rapids, who Bermuda beat last month, are up next and hopefully Revs can get a repeat result.