Bermuda Under-23s 2

Trinidad Under-23s 5

They started brightly, showed flickers of promise throughout but were ultimately undone by a more accomplished and experienced group of players.

No surprise there, then.

Trinidad's extra maturity and know-how were the very reasons why the Bermuda Football Association invited them to the play a double-header against the National Academy's Under-23 team.

They wanted to test Scott Morton's young, gifted but naive team against the very best the Caribbean region has to offer.

And although Morton's men were undoubtedly second best at the National Sports Centre yesterday, they did at least offer glimpses of promise to suggest there is sufficient talent in their ranks to mould them into a decent team.

They made a perfect start to the festive friendly when Shayne Hollis scored a penalty after Curtis Gonzales had chopped down the waspish winger in the second minute.

And while a superb double save from Bermuda goalkeeper Tahj Bell prevented Trinidad's Trent Lougheed from equalising soon after, Bermuda continued to create goalscoring chances with Keishen Bean having an effort cleared off the line after rounding Trinidad 'keeper Andre Marchan.

A sluggish looking Trinidad were then gifted an equaliser when Angelo Simmons surrendered possession to Jamal Clarence whose shot from the edge of the box should have been saved by Bell. It was a poor goal to give away and seemed to shake Trinidad from their slumber.

The Gombey Warriors could do nothing about Trinidad's second goal though, when the impressive Daniel Cyrus cut in from the right and curled the ball into the far corner of the net with a exquisite left foot strike.

Still, the hosts continued to cause a few problems at the other end. Simmons got on the end of a Reggie Lambe cross but could not steer his close range shot past the onrushing Marchan.

By now Bermuda were seriously struggling to keep a lid on Trinidad's four-pronged attack and fell further behind when Devrae Tankard's poor headed clearance fell to Marcus Joseph who made no mistake from inside the box.

After the break Trinidad struck again when Bell fumbled Clarence's shot allowing Lougheed to get his name on the scoresheet with the simplest of finishes.

Despite the four-goal deficict, Bermuda refused to throw in the towel and pulled a goal back when Lambe showed his class with a brilliantly weighted through-ball for Keishen Bean who confidently rolled the ball past Marchan.

For a brief period Bermuda started to reassert themselves as Trinidad took their foot off the gas with substitutes Nahkia Wells and Antonio Lowe particularly impressing in the latter stages.

But Trinidad still had the final say when Stephen Campbell converted Jerrel Britto's cross in the last minute.

Bermuda coach Scott Morton said he felt there were positives to take away from the game despite the hefty defeat.

"The first 25 minutes went according to our game plan but we always knew it was going to be a challenge in the wet conditions against a drilled opposition like Trinidad," he said.

"There are positives to take away from this match, which we will use for our data. They took their goals well and it was a fair scoreline although I believe we could have scored a couple of more goals.

"We have to look at our individual responsibilities . . . we have to become accustomed to Trinidad's movement off the ball. Our players are just not used to that at the domestic level."

"I was encouraged that we did not dismantle as a team despite conceding that amount of goals – we kept working."

Bermuda Under-23s: T.Bell, R.Lee (A.Gibbons, 79), R.Purnell (A.Lowe, 79), M.Waldron, D.Tankard, A.Simmons (A.Russell, 70) S.Darrell, J.Davis (N.Wells, 68), S.Hollis, K.Bean, R.Lambe (S.Brown, 78)

Yellow cards: S.Darrell

Trinidad Under-23s: A.Marchan, J.Rochford (S.Bateau, 69), L.Paul (S.Campbell, 83) T.Lougheed (J.Britto, 69), A.Adams (J.Jones, 86), D.Cyrus, N.Walker, C.Gonzales (J.Morris, 72), M.Williams, M.Joseph (M.Lewis, 69), J.Clarence

Referee: A.Mouchette

Man of the Match: D.Cyrus (Trinidad)