Bermuda 4 US Virgin Is. 0 Bermuda virtually booked their ticket to the inaugural Caribbean Under-15 Championship finals with another convincing victory at National Stadium last night.

Although their performance rarely reached the heights of February's 5-0 triumph over Cayman Islands, the local youngsters were a class above US Virgin Islands and never looked threatened.

Two goals in each half did the trick and now Bermuda will be strong favourites to at least maintain this advantage when they contest the away leg on April 23 -- the prize, a trip to Haiti for the July 19-23 finals.

"We're very pleased with the end result,'' said coach Kenny Thompson. "It's a good lead for us to go with to the USVI.'' The opening goal came after only three minutes when unfortunate defender Jason Perez could only turn Eugene Calder's corner into his own net when attempting to head clear.

By then, the quality of the Bermuda forward play had already delighted a gathering crowd with Domico Coddington, Dion Stovell and little Jason Davis particularly impressive.

Stovell, who with sweeper Chris Moulder looked the most complete players on the pitch, shot over in the eighth minute and then was the main man in a dynamite move which started in the Bermuda half.

After some neat play with wingback Jason Dill on the left, Stovell produced the telling pass for Calder to get in a volley but USVI goalkeeper Moses Morales was well placed to make the save.

Bermuda nearly went two up in the 38th minute after sloppy play from both sides. The ball fell nicely for Davis to get in a 15-yard shot which went through the hands of Morales but crept over the bar.

The goal Bermuda threatened for so long finally came a minute before half-time. It was not textbook, however, as Johnny Ball set up for a hopeful 30-yard shot. But just when the effort appeared to be meandering off for a goal kick, up popped the right boot of Coddington's to divert it past a helpless Morales.

The two-goal lead was just about what Bermuda deserved but it was clear that their standards had dropped against sub-standard opposition.

Morales's handling would come into question in the 58th minute when a well-hit Dill free kick eluded him. But he made enough contact to deflect the 25-yarder over the top.

A minute later, though, the goalkeeper needed all his bravery to deny Calder on the end of a another Coddington cross.

By now it was obviously one-way traffic and Bermuda's third came on the hour, Calder making the USVI defence pay for letting a Shannon DeShield free kick bounce through the area.

The Coddington-Stovell show resumed in the 62nd minute with the former displaying an array of tricks in beating three men before crossing for Stovell who struck the bar from the edge of the area, bringing a 1,500-strong crowd to its feet.

Damon Swan worked hard all night in the striker's position and gained his reward in the 73rd minute with a well-struck shot from 20 yards out that a diving Morales got a hand to but could not keep out.

But four was all Bermuda would get -- and just about what they deserved for a confident but less than stellar outing, according to coach Thompson.

"I didn't think that the overall performance was at the standard that we would like and we have to do some work there,'' he said.

"Having said that, the boys are not machines. Sometimes they are going to play well and sometimes they are not going to play well. We achieved the main thing, which was winning, and we'll try to improve for the next match.'' Bermuda: J.Williams; J.Dill, C.Moulder, S.DeShield; J.Ball (K.Hinds, 58 mins), D.Stovell, K.Parfitt, J.Davis (V.Blanchette, 78 mins); E.Calder (S.Simmons, 70 mins), D.Swan, D.Coddington.

US Virgin Islands: M.Morales; J.Perez, F.Robinson, C.Davis, P.Cusin (M.Feracho, 80 mins); L.Bailey (D.Subnaik, 47 mins), B.Pierre, R.Smith, V.Campbell; O.Kaza (M.Christian-Hendrickson, 68 mins), S.Walker.

Men of the match: Domico Coddington (Bermuda), Frank Robinson (US Virgin Islands).

Referee: Clive Wright (Jamaica).

Yellow cards: Pierre (US Virgin Islands), Davis (US Virgin Islands).

Picture by Raz Mykkal Tricky customer: The skill of Bermuda's Domico Coddington (right) leaves two USVI opponents floundering in his wake.