Bermuda Hogges still can't score from the penalty spot.

Kyle Lightbourne's side lost their fifth successive game last night, slipping to a narrow defeat at home to Crystal Palace Baltimore.

Goals from Andrew Marshall and Val Teixeira had given Palace a comfortable two-nil lead and with five minutes remaining they looked like they would they complete a relatively easy victory.

But then substitute Lloyd Holder scored with his first touch four minutes from time, and the home side would have scrapped a draw if Darius Cox had been able to score from 12-yards.

With two minutes left Hogges broke quickly and Damon Ming raced into the penalty area were he was needlessly bundled over by Palace defender Zach Flores.

A point that minutes earlier had seemed highly unlikely was suddenly within Hogges' grasp. Up stepped Cox, and he promptly smashed the ball against the foot of the left hand post.

It was unfortunate for the Hogges defender, because apart from hitting the post he did everything right. He picked his spot, sent goalkeeper Brian Rowland the wrong way, and hit it hard.

However like Antwan Russell, Omar Shakir and Stevie Astwood before him, he failed with the most important part.

In truth an equaliser would have been far more than Hogges deserved.

They were fairly poor for almost 70 minutes last night, failing to deliver a good cross, complete a telling pass, or really test Rowland in any significant way.

Not that Palace were much better, but they took their chances when they came, and successfully held Hogges at bay for most of last night's encounter.

Palace's first goal came out of nothing. Midway through the first half striker Machel Millwood played a smart pass out wide, and as the Hogges defence was caught cold, Jordan Seabrook whipped in a wicked cross which Marshall calmly headed past Burgess. Until that point the game had failed to get out of first gear.

Both sides struggled to control the ball on a slick surface, and when either side found space passes were invariably over hit.

The 30 seconds it took Palace to score was about as exciting as it got in the first half, and if Palace were bad, then Hogges were worse.

Kyle Lightbourne's side managed just two shots before half time, and neither of them were on target.

Astwood blazed well over with a tame effort early on, and Omar Shakir fired a free kick straight into the wall.

As the half wore on the two teams became increasingly frustrated with their inability to adapt to the conditions and the referee struggled to keep control. Two players from either side were booked in a series of niggly incidents, with Palace pair Bryon Harkin and Millwood and Hogges duo Jamie Smith and Jared Peniston all going into the referee's book,

Smith was fortunate to make it to half time.

Having only just been booked he then clashed with Rowland, and pushed central defender Marshall right in front of referee Jose Carlos Rivero. Whether it was his ineffectiveness upfront, or his increasingly fractious nature, Lightbourne hauled Smith off at half time and sent Antwan Russell on upfront.

The introduction of winger Lashun Dill for Peniston also gave the side some much needed speed, but if the plan had been to strike early after the re-start, someone forgot to tell the Hogges' defenders.

Less than ten minutes into the second half, Blenn Bean and Shakir made a hash of clearing the ball and Teixiera had all the time in the world to calmly curl a shot past Hogges goalkeeper Nigel Burgess.

The second goal actually fired Hogges into life, and they eventually forced Rowland into making a save when Russell's long-range effort tested the Palace goalkeeper.

Astwood had a go as well, forcing Rowland to claw the ball away from underneath the cross bar.

But all the efforts were from too far out to really trouble him.

For much of the game Hogges were masters of their own misfortune, they frequently got into good positions, but crosses delivered from the wings, and from any dead-ball situation, always failed to find their mark.

As the game drew to a close Lightbourne threw on Holder in a desperate attempt to give his side some effectiveness up front.

It paid instant dividends as the PHC striker bundled home the ball from a corner. Hogges then found the gear they had been missing for most of the game, and Ming accelerated into the penalty box to set up the most improbable of finishes.

Bermuda Hogges (5-3-2): N Burgess, B Bean (sub: J Ball, 75), K Richards, D Cox, O Shakir, J Peniston (sub: L Dill, 46), S DeGraff (sub: S Darrell, 73), S Astwood, D Ming, D Coddington (sub: L Holder, 85), J Smith (sub: A Russell, 46). Subs not used: J Williams (gk), T Russell. Booked Peniston, Smith.

Crystal Palace Baltimore (4-4-2): B Rowland, M Anjors, A Marshall, S Harada, Z Flores, B Harkin, P Healey (sub: N Vranis, 77), P Robson, J Seabrook (sub: K Gnatiko, 74) V Teixeira (sub: D Lader, 85), M Millwood. Subs not used: B Chiles (gk), J Cherneski, R Pierce, O Adelusimi. Booked Harkin, Millwood, Anjos,

Referee: JC Rivero

Hogges man of the match: D Ming