Bermuda 1 Cuba 2 Several Bermuda players broke down in tears as their ten-man grandstand finish failed to save them from elimination from the Shell Caribbean Cup last night.

They forged a number of good chances in the last 15 minutes as the introduction of Dwight Basden and Damon Ming created new problems for Cuba but it was not enough to rescue a game which had been an uphill battle following Dennis Robinson's dismissal early in the second half.

Robinson, booked for a late tackle in the first 45 minutes, was ordered off in the 55th minute, presumably for something he said.

The result means that the Cayman Islands must beat Bermuda on Sunday to prevent Cuba from progressing to the next round in Jamaica in July.

Technical director Clyde Best was a disappointed man but will have been around the game long enough to know that you have to take the bad with the good.

He said philosophically: "That's soccer. You get a player sent off just when you've got the momentum going. I don't know what happened. It must have been for something he said.

"I have to find out from him and we have to sort it out. He must understand he's got to be careful -- hey, you've got a yellow card, don't say anything.

"It's something he needs to learn to control. I mean, I know he's keen but I hope we can fix it.'' Whatever the rights or wrongs of that decision, Bermuda certainly didn't get the rub of the green from Jamaican FIFA official Peter Prendergast who was as erratic last night as he had been on Wednesday when in control of the Cuban-Cayman tie.

One moment he will let quite awful tackles go unpunished and then he will brandish his colourful array of cards for a comment in the heat of the moment.

And it was another puzzling decision by Prendergast that affectively decided the tie. In the 64th minute he had awarded a goal kick to Bermuda but as Timmy Figuereido prepared to take it he inexplicably changed his mind and gave a corner to Cuba -- from which they scored the winner.

However, Best preferred not to be too critical. Asked about the refereeing, he said: "I thought it was a bit erratic, but then again we had one or two chances. If you convert your chances, at the end of the day you can put the refereeing to the back of your mind.

"We're playing soccer in the Caribbean -- you've seen some of refereeing in Bermuda so you know what we're up against. What you have to try and do is get more goals than the other side.'' What made it especially disappointing was that Bermuda had begun to assume control at the beginning of the second period after drawing level three minutes before the break through makeshift striker David Bascome.

Bascome fired home a volley from 10 yards after Cuba had failed to properly clear Bermuda's second corner in as many minutes.

Paul Cann's flag kick was headed to Chris Sabir 15 yards outside the area on the left. Sabir tried a speculative shot but it landed back by Cann on space on the right. He returned the ball and although captain Shannon Burgess couldn't gain control it bounced kindly for Bascome who slammed it low across Louis Mora and into the far corner.

It was in truth a fortunate break for Bermuda who had been outplayed by the Cubans once they took the lead in the 17th minute. That goal, too, came from a corner that wasn't cleared. This time the ball fell for Yuneski Rodriguez who shot through a crowd of players for his second goal of the tournament.

With their one goal advantage Bermuda's opponents began to grow in confidence and Lester Moore was unlucky to see his swerving volley go wide after a flowing move.

However, Bermuda came out for the second half with renewed vigour and Bascome went close, latching onto a Lightbourne header and flicking the ball over a defender before seeing his shot deflected wide.

Bascome switched back to midfield after Robinson was sent off and Bermuda seemed to have contained the Cuban threat before the referee awarded the dubious corner. The ball was played to the edge of the area where Carlos Zayas helped it on to Yanko Canizares who turned to drive home.