Bermuda Hogges 2Westchester Flames 1Bermuda Hogges’ first win of the season proved to be a close shave with goalkeeper Tahj Bell coming to their rescue with a late penalty save.Bell and his team-mates had faced the hairy proposition of going at least another week without haircuts or shaving, having vowed to do neither until they ended their seven-game winless streak.But thanks to the razor sharp reflexes of main man Bell, Hogges finally clinched their first victory of the season with a well-deserved triumph over Westchester Flames at BAA Field on Saturday night.Hogges’ went ahead when skipper Keishen Bean collected a defence-splitting pass from Kwame Steede before sweeping the ball past Flames ‘keeper Greg Crumpstone on 16 minutes.The hosts surrendered their advantage from the re-start, though, when Flames’ dangerman Jake Keegan waltzed his way to the edge of the box unchallenged before firing past Bell.On the stroke of half-time Hogges restored their lead when Casey Castle teed up Steede on the edge of the area who made no mistake with a powerful right-footed drive.Coach Maurice Lowe’s side were forced to endure a nervy finale after defender Roger Lee was shown his second yellow card after a clumsy challenge on Keegan in the 84th minute with referee Matt Foster pointing to the penalty spot.Keegan stepped up to take the kick but Bell dived the right way at full stretch to palm the ball away to safety. The UK-based shot-stopper then reeled off another match-winning save to deny Jake Maley who found himself one-on-one with Bell in injury time.A relieved Lowe praised Bell’s man-of-the-match display and said his two “humongous” late saves had been crucial in earning his team their long-awaited win.“Tahj pulled off two big saves for us,” said Lowe, who was also in on Hogges’ no-win no-haircut pact. “They were absolutely humongous saves. I can now look forward to getting a shave and a haircut!”Lowe admitted his relief at Hogges halting their winless run and hopes Saturday’s result will serve a confidence-boost ahead of next week’s four-game road trip to the United States.“It feels really good to get the win; it was nervy at times but we held on. We got the early goal but then conceded cheaply; that’s something we need to work on.“You could hear that our fans were delighted with this victory and we proved a point to those who didn’t have faith in us.”In the absence of top goalscorer Domico Coddington through injury, Lowe deployed Lashun Dill as the lone striker a move which paid dividends with the veteran winger more than justifying his starting berth.While Dill’s erratic body movements and sometimes questionable decision-making can be frustrating, his lanky frame and searing pace are attributes which can cause most defenders at this level problems.“Lashun has the size and speed to the play the striker role for us and I thought he did well tonight. He had a few chances to score and probably deserved a goal for his performance.”Debutant 17-year-old Zeiko Lewis, the latest product to emerge from Bermuda’s seemingly never-ending conveyor belt of fleet of foot wide men, showed glimpses of promise with his waspish wing play, while holding midfielder Chris Caisey and defender Reiko Trott continue to improve with every game in a Hogges’ jersey.“Zeiko is just 17 and sometimes he makes the wrong choices but he certainly gives us another option and I was pleased with his debut,” said Lowe.“I was pleased with all of the players; it was a team performance and they can all take some credit.”Hogges are next in action against New Jersey Rangers on Friday at the Morris Catholic High School at 9 pm (Bermuda time).Bermuda Hogges: T Bell, M Waldron, D Andrade, C Caisey, R Trott, R Lee, K Bean, K Steede, C Castle, L Dill, Z LewisSubstitutes not used: M Crockwell, J Bather, S Darrell, T Ming, A Simmons, D MingYellow cards: Trott, Andrade, LewisRed card: Lee, 84Westchester Flames: G Crumpstone, T Klim, C Dennis, R Dillon-Curran, T Richardson, K George, A Chehebar (R Heredia, 76), J Maley, N Capetola (R Maxwell, 45), D Panchano, J KeeganSubstitutes not used: J WeinerYellow cards: Chehebar, Dillon-Curran, Maxwell, CrumpstoneReferee: M Foster (Texas)Man of the match: Bell (Hogges)