Bermuda opened their NACRA Caribbean Championships campaign with a hard-fought win over battling Bahamas at the National Sports Centre on Saturday.Having not hosted a Test match in more than a decade, the Island’s rugby fraternity turned out in force to cheer on Bermuda although it was the visitors who did the early celebrating following Shawn Kemp’s opening try which Kacey Charlton converted.Their lead was short-lived, however, with Bermuda hitting back through the boot of Greg Fraser with a penalty kick, before Conor McGlynn darted over the line for a try which Fraser converted to nudge the hosts ahead.After the interval, Bermuda continued to enjoy plenty of possession but were largely lacking in penetration against a resolute Bahamas side who refused to budge an inch all afternoon.They hauled themselves on level terms with a Duran Beadle penalty and were looking good value for a share of the spoils before Bermuda snatched victory with another Fraser penalty kick five minutes from time.Lawrence Bird, the Bermuda coach, described the win as “too close of comfort” and admitted his team must improve before playing the winners of Mexico and Cayman Islands.“We had a lot of possession, a lot of territory which we didn’t convert but Bahamas always come out hard at you and try and knock you off the game,” said Bird. “The breakdowns were a bit of a lottery so they were getting away with a few things that they shouldn’t have got away with.“They were probably a little unfortunate not too beat us, so we have a lot of work to do. We didn’t have any real penetration and we weren’t getting to the breakdowns quick enough in enough numbers, but we will work on that going forward.”Playing in front of home supporters would have been a new experience for Bird’s team, having spent the past decade travelling around the Caribbean and South America, and the coach said he was pleased with how they handled the added pressure. “When you’re at home everyone expects you to win. I expected us to win but I wanted us to rack up a whole lot more points,” Bird said. “We have to play away next but we’re used to playing away, that’s nothing new for us. It was our first home game for a very long time and it was important we didn’t get carried away with the occasion, and I felt we did that fairly well.”Bermuda will take on winners of Mexico against Cayman Islands in an away match, scheduled for June.Saturday’s match was the first men’s international to be refereed by a female. Joyce Henry of Canada took charge in the groundbreaking game. Henry is one of the founder members of the IRB’s first Women’s Referee Panel.