Bermuda 3 Cayman Islands 1 Bermuda swept the Cayman Islands aside last night with a fine display of slick, attacking football which left technical director Clyde Best cockahoop.

An early penalty from Meshach Wade set Bermuda on their way and further strikes from Keishon Smith and Otis Steede sealed the win in the first of two matches against the Caribbean side.

Despite a much-changed side featuring only three of those who started in May's 4-1 thrashing of the Caymans in the Caribbean Cup in May and the fact that there has been only one club game in Bermuda this season, the national team produced a remarkably fluid display.

Veteran striker Paul Cann returned for his first game for Bermuda for 18 months, having been away in college in the US, and his striking partnership with Kenny Mills gave the rather generous Caymans defence a torrid time.

The visitors had no answer to the pace of right winger Tokia Russell, who ran his marker ragged time and again and produced a plentiful supply of dangerous crosses.

On the night there were no weak links in a side which looked faster, fitter and sharper than the opposition. The Caymans looked a weaker side than the one which lost here in May, but they were beaten in style.

If there was a down side, it was that more people were not there to see it, but while the disappointing crowd of around 400 got more than their money's worth, the stay-aways missed a treat.

"We're over the moon,'' said technical director Clyde Best, making no attempt to disguise his delight at the performance.

"We just threw a squad together and everything worked well. It just goes to show how intelligent these players are.

"Everybody had a good game and Tokia Russell and Otis Steede were absolutely superb.'' Early pressure from Bermuda was rewarded in the seventh minute, when Russell burst past Rohan Clarke and had his legs taken by the defender as he shaped to cross. Referee Lyndon Raynor instantly pointed to the spot.

Wade converted with a low shot into the right-hand corner of the net.

Midfielder Devarr Boyles took the captain's armband in place of the injured Shannon Burgess and nearly had a goal to cap a hard-working performance after a flowing move involving Smith, Wade and Mills, but his shot from 12 yards was too high.

Wade had been asked to play in the centre of defence instead of in his usual midfield role, but still found the time and space to venture forward regularly.

Alongside him was Karl Roberts, who looked solid and composed, though he was not seriously tested until the second half.

The Caymans' first effort on goal came on the half hour, when Frederick Wilks' cross from the left was headed wide from a good position by big striker Carlos Welcome.

But that was against the run of play and when Mills jinked cleverly between two defenders and fired in a 20-yarder which Caymans 'keeper Alfredo Whittaker palmed away, the small crowd started to crank up the volume.

Bermuda's second goal came in the 34th minute, moments after the start of a heavy downpour as fans were running in all directions in search of shelter.

Cann made a break into the left-hand side of the penalty area and crossed low beyond Whittaker's reach. Mills and Smith battled for the ball with two defenders and it was Smith, who scored a hat-trick the last time the teams met, who scrambled it over the line.

Two minutes before the break, Smith almost doubled his tally when he latched onto a slide-rule pass from Boyles, but his first-time shot was held by Whittaker.

The Caymans started the second period much more positively, as striker Gary Whittaker in particular began to test the home rearguard.

First, Whittaker teed up Welcome, but his snapshot was easily gathered by Timmy Figureido and then Whittaker's strong run down the left gave Eric Brown an opportunity, but his fierce shot was once again held by the Vasco 'keeper.

In the 64th minute, the crowd enjoyed the unusual sight of the entire Caymans side forming a defensive wall on their own goal line after 'keeper Whittaker had been penalised for picking up a backpass and Bermuda were awarded an indirect free-kick on the edge of the six-yard box.

But the free-kick came to nothing, as Wade's shot bounced away off the forest of Cayman legs.

Striker Whittaker shot inches wide and then Figureido had a moment to forget when he misjudged and missed Gareth Anderson's floated 40-yard free-kick, but his defenders spared his blushes by scrambling the ball to safety.

Steede, who enjoyed an excellent game pulling the strings in midfield, added his name to the scoresheet in the 77th minute.

Russell ran into the huge spaces allowed to him on the right by the visitors' defence and lashed in a shot too hot for Whittaker to hold and Steede headed home the rebound.

The Caymans did manage to pull one back in the 89th minute, when substitute Anthony Ramoon's shot was diverted into the net by the quick-thinking Brown, but even that could not detract from a job well done by Bermuda.

Bermuda: T.Figureido, K.Roberts, M.Wade, K.Dill, K.Binns, D.Boyles (Rahman 55 mins), O.Steede, P.Cann (R.Tucker 78 mins), T.Russell, K.Mills (E.Jennings 55 mins), K.Smith.

Caymans: A.Whittaker, G.Anderson, C.Rowe, S.Myles, V.Seymour, L.Ramoon, R.Clarke (K.Dixon 55 mins), E.Brown, G.Whittaker, C.Welcome (A.Ramoon 78), F.Wilks (F.McKenzie 67 mins).

Men of the match: Tokia Russell (Bermuda); Gary Whittaker (Caymans) Referee: Lyndon Raynor Slide rule: Paul Cann, back in the national squad after an 18-month absence, puts in a tough tackle against the Caymans last night. Cann forged a promising attacking partnership with Kenny Mills.

Photos by Ras Mykkal Penalty king: Meshach Wade (left) scored from the spot.