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Hogges forced to postpone Express game

Bermuda Hogges’ home match against New Jersey Express scheduled for Saturday has been postponed because US flights to Bermuda are fully booked for Memorial Day Weekend.Hogges, who are responsible for organising travel arrangements for visiting teams, have been unable secure sufficient flight seats for Express’ players and staff for this weekend’s game.Paul Scope, Hogges’ owner, admitted they had been “blindsided” by the extra demand in bookings for flights from the East Coast to the Island for the annual holiday.He said it was likely the fixture would now be tagged on the end of the Hogges’ second road trip in late June early July.“We just can’t get the team on the flights,” said Scope.“I suppose we were blindsided a bit, these fixtures were organised at the AGM in September. We’ve always started the season in the last weekend in May because the other teams didn’t want to play us before that because the fixtures prior to that were qualifiers for the US Open Cup. That changed this season and we may have to play an extra fixture away now,“In the last few years we haven’t had to worry about the Memorial Day Weekend.“What we can confirm is that we won’t be playing that fixture this weekend.“We have to fulfill the fixture and it’s going to be difficult to fit it at home because of both teams schedules.”Hogges skipper Antwan Russell suffered no serious damage when he injured his ankle against Brooklyn Knights at the weekend.The striker feared he had damaged his ligaments when he limped off early in the first half of Sunday’s game after being fouled by Knights defender.However, initial examinations suggest the injury is not as serious as first thought, although he will miss Hogges’ first away match of the season against Westchester Flames on June 2. A relieved Russell said he had initially feared the injury would keep him out for the entire summer.“It’s not as bad as I first feared; I thought I had torn my ligaments but it’s just a bit of bad bruising and I may have torn some tendons they said,” he said.“I think I’m going to miss the first away match but I might be fit for the second. I should be out for ten to 14 days.“I’m definitely happy because the next day (the ankle) was swollen real big, so it’s good I won’t be out for too long.”Although Hogges remain without a win after drawing their opening two home games, Russell believes they can take plenty of encouragement from their start to the season.“I think we have improved a lot. Last season we would have lost those two games. The guys have grown as a group and it’s been fun leading them,” he said.“We don’t want anybody coming to Bermuda and taking points off us and I really think we can build from here.”Scope echoed Russell’s sentiments regarding Hogges’ promising start to the campaign and believed they were unfortunate not to have beaten Knights last Sunday.“We had to play with ten men for a lot longer than they did and a draw would have been good at that point,” said Scope.“But to have gone ahead it’s always disappointing that we couldn’t hold on. We have taken the lead in both games now and ended up drawing, so we could have taken six points.“Realistically, though, considering the starts we’ve had in previous seasons, this is an improvement.“A draw (against Knights) was maybe a fair reflection of the play and now we have to build on a decent start.”Hogges embark on their first road trip on June 2 when they will play four matches in seven days, against Westchester Flames, Brooklyn Knights, Long Island Rough Riders and Jersey Express.