Bermuda Hogges 0

Ocean City 3

Bermuda Hogges were brought back down to earth with a bump by Ocean City who dealt the new-boys a harsh lesson in the realities of PDL football at BAA Field yesterday.

A goal from Byron Carmichael and Ryan Richter's brace were more than sufficient to earn City a sorely-needed win and enabled them to avenge their defeat by Hogges on Friday night.

Perhaps it was always too much to expect Scott Morton's young side to follow that result with another victory against a team which reached the PDL quarter-finals last term.

A team more mature, both physically and mentally.

Not more talented, though. It is just that much of the talent at the Hogges coaching staff's disposal is of the raw variety and they have not quite worked out how best to harness it.

Yesterday Hogges kicked off with four teenagers in their starting line-up. Four teenagers who will blossom from regularly playing against quality overseas opposition.

But consequently Hogges are sometimes susceptible to being bullied and pushed around like a primary school pupil who finds himself in high school playground.

Naive too at times, especially defensively, Hogges will aim to remedy that particular ailment by re-signing Darius Cox, a veteran of three seasons in the USL-D2.

And he will need to make a difference because Hogges will find themselves up against bigger and stronger strikers than Carmichael and Richter in the PDL this season.

Carmichael ruthlessly made Tankard pay for his slip when attempting to clear, powering into the box before finishing past Hogges' goalkeeper Freddy Hall.

Dropping into the hole between Hogges' holding midfielder Troy Tucker and his centre-halves, Carmichael's partner in crime Richter also wreaked havoc throughout.

He scored either side of half-time to take the game away from the Hogges who never really threatened to force their way back into it anyway.

They had play out the final ten minutes with ten men after lone striker Tyrell Burgess took out his afternoon's frustrations with a reckless challenge on defender William Swetra.

Hogges' technical director Derek Broadley was needlessly sent off by referee Chris Penso for exchanging words with one of City's defenders in the aftermath of Burgess' dismissal.

It has been a frustrating few games for Burgess who does not look entirely comfortable playing through the middle and he will now miss Hogges' next game.

Depsite this disappointing performance it has not been a bad start to the season for the Hogges.

They are the only team to take a point off Reading United so far this campaign, and were good value for Friday's win.

But yesterday City certainly exposed a few deficiencies in the Hogges' mechanics which will now need some repair work by Morton and his coaching team.

They won't have much time, though, as the matches come thick and fast in the PDL with the Hogges next in action against Ironbound Express in the US on Thursday.

Morton admitted his side had been "manhandled" by a City side who looked sharper and more organised than in their opening match against Hogges.

"They were more physical and organised than they were on Friday and today we were manhandled," said Morton.

"The players have to dig in and learn from this. It's a bit deflating for them but this is what it's all about and hopefully it will be a learning curve for them."

Neil Holloway, the City coach, said his game plan worked to perfection and believed his team thoroughly deserved their first win of the season.

"We played with two solid banks of four and asked Bermuda whether they could break us down and beat us, and the answer was they couldn't.

"The plan was to soak up the pressure and hit them on the break and it worked perfectly."

While Holloway highlighted Hogges' attacking virtues he raised question marks over their defensive capabilities.

"Hogges are definitely dangerous going forward, but after today they may start to think a little bit more about their defence.

"It's a great set-up here, like a small non-league English ground with a boisterous crowd. Probably a more knowledgeable crowd than in the United States."

Bermuda Hogges: F.Hall, R.DeShields (J.Peniston, 50), J.Bather (L.Alexander, 55), T.Tucker (S.Darrell, 45), M.Waldron (Capt) D. Tankard, N.Wells, K.Bean, S.Hollis (R.Lee, 75), T.Burgess, Q.Maynard

Substitues not used: T.Bell, G.Dyer, E.Signor,

Red cards: Burgess, 81

Yellow cards: Darrell

Ocean City: B.Mollon, A.Hamilton, K.Strunk, W.Swetra, J.Fletcher, M.Melchionni (D.Dove, 76), K.Curran, B.Carmichael, G.Cranere (J.Chapman, 60), R.Richter, M.Griffin

Goals: Carmichael, 16, Richter, 26, 85

Referee: C.Penso

Man of the match: Richter (City)