THE line between success and failure in sport can often be minute ? a fact not lost on pacey Bermuda right back Kevin Richards. Having graduated from Notre Dame University in 2004 and played four years in the college's NCAA team, the son of Senator E.T Bob Richards became Major League Soccer's Superdraft fourth-round pick when he joined the Colorado Rapids.

But now defunct MLS quotas on international players combined with a niggling Achilles injury picked while representing the national team against El Salvador in World Cup qualifiers combined to bring an end to his dreams of playing football in the US, while trials with clubs in England, Scotland and France failed to produce an offer of a professional contract.

By now based in London, the 24-year-old Richards was spending more money than he could afford attempting to satisfy his footballing ambitions, and it then dawned on him that he might be better off putting his privileged education to good use.

"Professional football in particular is a very fickle business and sometimes it just comes down to being in the right place at the right time and staying injury free," said Richards, who now works for ACE in London and is currently studying to be an accountant while playing club football at weekends.

"The main problem was my ankle injury which I carried on playing with for far too long and it got to the stage where I had to take around six months off from football. I was in London at the time and spending money like you wouldn't believe and it got to a point where I had to get a job while still looking around for any football opportunities.

"I came back from injury and started playing for Bishop Stortford (a Conference South team) which is the same league as Hayes where Damon Ming is currently playing.

"After getting my fitness back I actually started playing better than I had done when I was drafted by the Rapids, but it got to the stage where I just could not devote enough time to training with them because of my work load at ACE.

"I wouldn't say I have any regrets about how it's all panned out. There was a time when playing professional football was the only thing I wanted to do, but like I said, it's a very difficult environment and if you don't get the breaks at the right time then you end up falling short. I'm comfortable now though with the direction I've taken."

Even as a part-time footballer, however, Richards is still an automatic pick in Kyle Lightbourne's national team and was a shining light on the right side of defence in both recent Digicel Cup games against the US Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic.

Over the course of his career, the former PHC Zebras player has played on the right of midfield and upfront ? though he says he is at his most comfortable defending a goal than running towards one.

Even still, his interaction with the electric Domico Coddington gave Bermuda an incisive edge down that right flank that would have caused any left back problems ? and Richards said he is looking forward to continuing that partnership when the team continue their Digicel Cup campaign in Barbados next month.

"I haven't got as much natural skill as Domico, but it is real pleasure playing with him in front of me," he said.

"As a team we played fantastically well down in the Virgin Islands and if everybody is fit there's no reason why we couldn't get right through to the finals in Trinidad. We've certainly got plenty of attacking options with the likes of Domico, Khano (Smith) and John Barry Nusum and if we can nail the back door shut then we are going to be a very difficult team to beat."

Richards has only just returned to the UK after a two-week break back at home where he played three games for his beloved PHC.

And while an upcoming accountancy exam is at the forefront of his mind at present, Richards said he is still intent on keeping himself fit ahead of the crucial national team assignments.

"It's obviously not as easy to stay in shape when I was playing full-time," he said.

"But I play games on both Saturday and Sunday and during the week I'm in the gym as often as I can. So physically I'm in a pretty good place right now and I hope that continues."