Bermuda 2 Brunei 0

Two superb late goals from Aunde Todd and Djair Parfitt-Williams earned Bermuda a well-deserved win over a determined Brunei in their opening Fifa Series encounter at King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, yesterday.

Michael Findlay’s side dominated the match and were unfortunate not to score more than the two goals they did. Todd broke the deadlock with a header in the 81st minute before Parfitt-Williams doubled the advantage with a beautifully curled effort in the 88th minute.

While pleased with the win, the Bermuda coach was left frustrated by his team’s failure to unlock the Brunei defence much earlier than they did.

“We’re happy that we won the game but we could have probably not put so much pressure on ourselves near the end and waited so long to score those goals,’’ Findlay said.

“The win came at a cost of frustration for us. We were at times not finding the key to unlock the door and that can be very frustrating.

“However, in the end we did prevail and we have to celebrate that and prepare for the next match.

“We dominated possession, the Brunei team caused us issues because they were sitting on such a low block.

“They had numbers around those channels and it’s difficult to craft a response to that kind of defending.

“We’re happy to do so but we have to be more clinical, we have to find those little moments that we’re able to get numbers forward, and not just play on the periphery.”

Bermuda’s next opponents are Guinea, a side which presents Findlay with a different challenge. The Africa Cup of Nations thrashed Vanuatu 6-0 on Thursday.

“Going into the next game what we'd love to see is a little bit more clinical in what we’re doing,’’ Findlay added, ahead of Monday’s match.

“Our speed of play has to be a lot quicker. I think we have see those moments faster and react to them.”

In the first-ever meeting between the two sides in international football, Bermuda made a bright start. They could have earned a penalty when Kole Hall was upended inside the box, but Omanian referee Qasim Al Hatimi waved play on.

At the other end, Dale Eve, the Bermuda captain and goalkeeper, had to use hit feet to block an effort from Abdul Herman, after a dangerous back pass.

In the 13th minute, Remy Coddington shot wide after some lovely work by Lejaun Simmons. Five minutes later, Kane Crichlow had his free kick palmed back into play by Haimie Nyaring.

Bermuda continued creating chances. First, Kole Hall saw his header go narrowly wide, before Harry Twite failed not connect with his head. Crichlow could only hit the side netting in the 28th minute and Roger Lee had his attempt go wide eight minutes after.

A minute before half-time, Simmons forced a great save off the Brunei goalkeeper.

Seven minutes after the break, Coddington had his effort cleared off the line by Mohammad Sharif.

Brunei grew in confidence and threatened Bermuda’s goal in the 63rd minute when Said fired his shot over from a dangerous cross by Mohammad Hassan.

Todd finally broke the deadlock nine minutes before the end with a perfectly guided header from a corner kick.

Parfitt-Williams sealed the win with a magnificent strike, which saw him weave his way past the Brunei defence and got into a perfect position to curl the ball into the top corner.

SCORERS

Bermuda: Todd 81, Parfitt-Williams 88

TEAMS

Bermuda (4-2-3-1): D Eve 6 (sub: D Bell 46, 6) – H Twite 7, D Leverock 7, L Robinson 6, L Simons 7 – A Todd 8, R Lee 6 – K Critchlow 7, D Parfitt-Williams 8 (sub: S Ming 88), R Coddington 7 (sub: Z Lewis 68, 5) – K Hall 7 (sub: J Bean 68, 6). Substitutes not used: A Kempe, R Jones, J Buttefield-Steede, R Robinson, K Martin, D Swan-DeSilva, K Scott. Booked: Todd, Parfitt.

Brunei (4-2-3-1): Haimie Nyaring 6 – M Sharif 6, Y Yunos, A Sisa, M Hassan 6 (sub: – M Othman 6 (sub: M Safwan 71), M Suhaimi (M Aminuddin 78) – H Said 5, A Herman 5 (sub: M Emran 61, 5), K Azim 5 (sub: A Sisa 78) – Ramlli (sub: H Danial 61, 5). Substitutes not used: M Jabidi, M Ishak, N Ismail, M Azman, M, Azaman, M Mahzan, M Symra. Booked: Yunos, Danial

Referee: Q Al-Hatimi (Oman)