Celebratory screams and whistles echoed around the National Stadium yesterday as Bermuda got off to a dream start in the second round of the World Cup qualifiers with a well-deserved 1-0 victory against El Salvador.

The hero of the day was Kyle Lightbourne who shook the rafters in the 77th minute, rising majestically above the visitors' defence to head home a left-wing cross by full-back Voorhees Astwood after Neil Paynter had done well to chase down a loose ball and backheel to Astwood.

Lightbourne could not have picked a more opportune time to notch his first goal for Bermuda on home soil and lay to rest doubts about his ability to perform on the international stage.

However, it was a tremendous team effort in front of a boisterous crowd of 5,000 that cheered every touch of the ball.

With crunching tackles and fine running off the ball, Bermuda matched their skillful opponents step for step throughout, never giving a quarter.

Jorge Gonzalez, their 34-year-old striker nicknamed `Magico', was largely kept in check by a solid five-man defensive unit marshalled by Paynter.

Most of the Salvadorean attacks were funnelled through diminutive Jose Cienfuegos, who worked tirelessly in midfield.

Fired up by the enthusiasm of the crowd, Bermuda dictated much of the early going.

Most attacks began along the left flank where Astwood was outstanding getting forward and supplying balls to front-runners Elliott Jennings and Lightbourne.

One such moment came in the seventh minute when from deep in El Salvador territory he threw in to Elliott Jennings for him to neatly flick to Goater whose first-time shot from near the penalty spot was well-saved by goalkeeper Raul Garcia low to his left.

Jennings himself was robbed of a header by Garcia moments afterwards as Bermuda captain Meshach Wade sent in a searching cross from the right.

The visitors' first chance fell at the boot of Fernando Lazo in the 21st minute. He took advantage of a partial clearance out of defence by Paynter to fire a fierce volley that whistled just wide.

This was followed up seven minutes later with another fine manoeuvre involving Jorge Abrego, Oscar Ulloa and Lazo. Abrego dribbled to the touch-line before centering for Ulloa to knock the ball on to Lazo whose near-post header was plucked out of the air by Dwayne (Streaker) Adams.

Bermuda appeared to relax a bit as the half neared, allowing their opponents to come more into their own and create opportunities.

Gonzalez caught Adams napping with a vicious inswinging corner that almost snuck in at the near post in the 32nd minute and a blunder by Paynter presented a half-chance for Cienfuegos.

Having held their ground in the first half, Bermuda went in search of more lucrative treasure in the second.

But first they were made to withstand a few early raids by El Salvador, now playing with increased confidence and looking more threatening.

Four minutes following the restart saw Gonzalez neatly flicking the ball inside the penalty area to an unmarked Ulloa, who could not pull the trigger before the defence converged.

A quickly-taken corner on the right by Gonzalez to Cienfuegos in the 63rd minute caused trouble as Adams misjudged the flight of the cross and allowed Ulloa a free header that went wide.

This turned out to be the local side's wake-up call and the introduction of Phillip Clarke for Jennings injected even more life into the attack.

The forceful striker made an immediate impact. He narrowly missed getting onto the scoresheet in the 61st minute when he failed to connect on a header from point-blank range after Lightbourne nudged on an Astwood corner.

Then came the heart stopper by Lightbourne, although it was not without cost as Paynter pulled a hamstring on the play and stands to miss Bermuda's match against Jamaica next week.

Bermuda: D.Adams; M.Wade, V.Astwood, L.Stevens, K.Jennings, N.Paynter (D.Brown, 81 mins); P.Cann, S.Goater, S.Smith; E.Jennings (P.Clarke, 67 mins), K.Lightbourne. Subs not used: C.Crockwell, A.Smith, L.Christopher.

El Salvador: R.Garcia; J.Abrego, L.Carcano, G.Trigueros, M.Mayen (R.Diaz 80 mins), M.Estrada (J.Palacios 31 mins), C.Castro, F.Lazo, J.Gonzalez, O.Ulloa, J.Cienfuegos.

Referee: Miguel Salas (Mexico) Linesmen: Rogelio Robles (Mexico), Gilberto Alcala (Mexico) Men of the match: Kyle Lightbourne (Bermuda), Jose Cienfuegos (El Salvador) CLOSE CALL -- Subsitute Phillip Clarke just fails to connect in this goalmouth scene in the second half.

HEADS UP -- Kyle Lightbourne soars to head Bermuda to a famous victory over El Salvador.