Bermuda ...........(1)2

Barbados ..............(1)1

Bermuda's 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign gathered momentum at the National Sports Centre (NSC) last night as the 'Gombey Warriors' pulled off an inspiring win over Caribbean Football Union rivals Barbados.

The hosts prevailed through goals either side of the half from skipper Omar Shakir who brought the house down with a gem of a free kick from distance and winger Damon Ming who slotted home the winner four-minutes before the end of regulation.

Barbados captain Norman Forde scored his team's consolation.

The win confirmed that Bermuda's World Cup plans are well and truly back on track.

And the heart and charachter demonstrated by Kenny Thompson's men on the pitch was thoroughly deserving of the rousing standing ovation the hosts received after ref George O'Brien blew the final whistle.

"It was good to get the sort of result we were looking for," commented victorious skipper Shakir.

"We wanted to make sure we had the proper game plan implemented and overall I think it was a satisfactory performance.

"Credit to my team-mates. It was great team effort whereas everybody pulled their weight and I think the coach will be pretty satisfied with the way we played tonight."

After Bermuda had applied a considerable amount of pressure, Shakir broke the deadlock in the 41st minute when his spectacular curling free-kick from –25 yards went in off the uprights.

It was a goal he later described as "one of my best".

"I think I will probably remember that one for a long time. I'm just happy to help my team get the result we were looking for," he added.

The joy, though, would be shortlived as Barbados captain Forde answered with a gem of his own from a set piece that clipped the underside of the bar en route to the back of the net right on the stroke of half time.

Forde's strike ushered in a ghastly silence as all of Bermuda's hard work came undone and suddenly it was game on.

"We were looking to try and score a goal and then contain them, which we achieved.

"But a mental lapse in concentration let us down in the last few minutes," Shakir added.

Unlike the first-half which saw both teams create scoring opportunities the second proved to be mostly uneventful midfield battle with either able to crack the game wide open.

But just when a draw seemed imminent Ming got on the end of Reggie Lambe's searching pass in the box and calmly steered his shot past Barbados 'keeper Adrian Chase to seal his team's hard fought win that avenged two home losess to the same opponents nearly four years ago at the same venue.

Barbados coach Eyre Sealy admitted afterwards that Bermuda were the better team on the night.

"Mentally we made a few errors, and it cost us," he lamented.

"It was definitely not the result we wanted; I thought we lost our composure a bit and were a bit tired after a long day of flying yesterday (Thursday)."

Bermuda's inspiring win also did not go without controversy as referee O'Brien came under fire from Sealy who described the level of officiating as "poor".

On several occassions the visitors challenged calls made by the veteran referee who made a glaring error when he permitted Barbados defender Gregg Belle to remain on the pitch after he had picked up a second yellow card for hacking down sub John Barry Nusum as he raced towards goal on a breakaway.

"The refereeing wasn't very good at all and I think one could pretty much see that," Sealy argued.

The former Barbados 'keeper, however, is confident his chargers can rebound next Monday when the two sides meet again at the NSC.

"We have to get ourselves together and show what we are really made of," he said.

"We've got to dig deeper and show charachter and put up a better fight."