Two mediocre performances by the Bermuda national and Second XVs against a relatively poor touring side Stoney Creek from Ontario emphasised the need for more concerted efforts by local representative sides.

In yesterday's match at Nationals, Bermuda made hard work of their match against the visitors as the scoreline could certainly have been higher had Bermuda's forwards won their share of the ball.

Stoney Creek dominated the line-outs and produced much quicker ball from second-phase possession.

Meanwhile, the Bermuda backs outshone their counterparts as expected, but there is certainly a lot of work to be done to improve the ball-winning capabilities of the Bermuda pack.

The Bermuda forwards even conceded a well orchestrated push-over try, which was actually awarded as a penalty try by referee Mark Smith after Bermuda had illegally prevented the score.

Stoney Creek struck early with the penalty try and a penalty kick to put Bermuda 10-0 down after 15 minutes.

Alan Oliver kicked two penalties in reply to put the half-time score at 10-6.

Bermuda were pinned in their half for the majority of the second half except for two well-taken tries by Matt Gorman and Mike Jorrie. Gorman's try a result of an intelligent chip kick by Oliver.

Stoney Creek's set-piece possession continued to be better than Bermuda's with their number eight in particular dominating the back of the line-out.

Danny Cozens, coming on in the second half as a replacement for Alan Gorbutt, managed to win some good front line-out ball and also bulldozed his way over the line late in the second half to make the game safe for Bermuda.

Bermuda Second XV 3 Stoney Creek 17 Although Stoney Creek thoroughly deserved to win, a disorganised Bermuda team failed to capitalise on the opposition's handling errors and flattered Stoney Creek's scoreline with poor tackling in the second half on Saturday.

After being thrown together following a poorly attended midweek practice, the second XV select understandably showed a lack of cohesion in the backs and forwards.

Most of the first half was scrappy with a lot of mishandling by both sides.

Stoney Creek crossed Bermuda's line after 10 minutes following a fumble by Bermuda's backs.

Line-outs never produced good ball for Bermuda and the new one-metre law was never enforced.

Graham Jones left the field with a twisted ankle after some fine tackling and his replacement, Robin Sherwood added more height to the untidy line-outs.

In the last 15 minutes with the score at 5-0, a poor clearance kick and a lack of tackling gave Stoney Creek two further tries.

LINE-OUT WOES -- Bermuda won despite an indifferent performance on the throw-ins.