Bermuda Select 0 Maine Hearts of Pine 2

A stubborn Bermuda Select put up a gallant effort to contain USL Championship side Maine Hearts of Pine for nearly 80 minutes before falling to two late strikes in an entertaining match in the Bermuda Select Invitational at Flora Duffy Stadium on Friday night.

Two substitutes combined to opening the scoring in the 79th minute when Nathan Messer dispossessed wingback Lejuan Simmons before playing his low cross into the path of Titus Washington to sidefoot home from close range.

Six minutes later, Bermuda fell two goals behind after goalkeeper Jahquil Hill did well to deny Washington a second when he advanced to make a point-blank save. However, the resulting corner was only partially cleared to Jake Keegan, who blasted the loose ball into the roof of the net to close out the scoring.

Despite the loss, Bermuda coach Michael Findlay will be pleased with many of the performances as his team matched their professional opponents for most of the match.

Goalkeeper Hill produced a man-of-the-match display after being called upon on numerous occasions to keep Bermuda in the game. Most noticeable was his full-length dive to deny Keegan’s thunderous snap-shot after he was given room to turn and strike.

Hill was ably assisted by tall centre backs Jorg Dublin and Julian Carpenter, who made a good combination at the heart of defence and did well to cut out many promising passes around the penalty area. With Danté Leverock nursing an injury, those two players should have caught the eye of Findlay and his coaching staff.

Midfielder Daniel Cook was a workhorse, making runs forward to support the attack but was just as impressive in tracking his player whenever play broke down.

Captain Zeiko Lewis and forward Keyni Mills showed promise with their close dribbling skills and the latter had an opportunity to score a consolation goal for Bermuda in the dying minutes of the game when he ran on to Lewis’s defence-splitting pass but Maine goalkeeper Kashmiri Oladapo spread his body wide to block the goalbound effort.

The Bermuda team have five days rest before playing their final match against Rhode Island, who are coached by Bermudian Khano Smith. Rhode Island play Maine Hearts of Pine on Monday night.

SCORERS

T Washington 79, J Keegan 85

Bermuda (4-2-3-1): J Hill 7 — E Blakendal 6, J Carpenter 7, J Dublin 7 (sub: T Harris, 82min), L Simmons 6 —-A Lewis 6 (sub: D Wainwright, 46 5), J Ebbin 5 (sub: D Usher, 37 5) — T Showers 5, Z Lewis 6, D Cook 7 — K Mills 6. Substitutes not used: J Symonds, J Salaam, T Mello.

Referee: A Majors.