Bermuda Hogges' best ever points return on the road was not so much a case of turning the corner as continuing to move in the right direction.

That's the view of technical director Derek Broadley who insists the Hogges are developing at just the right pace with their away wins over New Hampton Piranhas and North Virginia Royals representing genuine proof of steady improvement.

Aside from their six matches against top two teams Reading United and Ironbound Express, Hogges have averaged two points a game this season and have won half of their away games.

Now just three points off fourth place in the PDL's Mid Atlantic Division, and with a mid-table finish still firmly within their sights, Broadley believes Hogges' encouraging recent results are a fairer reflection of his coaching staff's hard work and the talent at their disposal.

"I think it can still be a fairly successful season for us," he said. "We've two games at home against Northern Virginia Royals and away games at Carolina Dynamo and West Virginia Chaos.

"If we can carry on taking two points from each game then we will achieve a very good mid-table finish – that's where we set our stall at the start of the season.

"And if we can continue with this programme next year then I'm confident we can take it a stage further."

Although the cold hard lucre of points is not the only currency to measure improvement on the football pitch it will always be the best indicator of success.

And with important international competitions like the Olympic and Pan Am Games qualifiers on the horizon, Broadley knows only too well he cannot afford to overplay the development card.

"We're preparing for international football so results do matter," he said. "My biggest disappointment of the whole season was losing 5-0 (against Express) because good teams shouldn't get beat 5-0.

"When you lose 5-0 everyone just thinks 'here we go again'. When you're losing 3-0 you have to accept the other team is better than you and make damn sure you don't lose by more than three goals.

"Against Reading United last week we did just that and lost 2-0. Our next game against the Royals wasn't about playing good football, it was about winning, we had to win."

"You can only play the development card for a period of time. I'm a great believer that results will come with consistency and slowly the hard work is paying off."

Ragged defending and an inability to bring down the defensive shutters have long been flaws in the Bermuda game but Broadley is adamant those deficiencies are slowly being re-addressed with Hogges starting to embrace the defensive dark arts.

"If you'd asked people what they considered the main flaws in the Bermuda game then I'm sure bad defending and lack of organisation would have come up pretty high," he said.

"But I now think we are become a hard team to beat and have proven we can hang with the top teams.

"Other than the 5-0 game against the Express and the 3-0 against Ocean City, we've looked defensively sound.

"For me the biggest plus from our first 12 games has been our organisation and team structure where there's been a big improvement."

See tomorrow's newspaper for part two of the Gazette's interview with Derek Broadley.

Hogges on the road

Won 2-1 v New Hampton Piranhas

Lost 2-0 v Reading United

Won 2-1 v North Virginia Royals