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Hogges aim to continue hot streak

Ocean City's Junior Chapman (right) and Bermuda Hogges defender Waldron Marquel both go for the ball during Sunday's encounter at Carey Stadium in Ocean City.

Bermuda Hogges will look to continue their historic winning run tomorrow when they take on Central Jersey Spartans at Rider University Field.Hogges go into the game on the back of three consecutive wins, a first for the franchise, the most recent of which saw them beat Ocean City Nor'easters this past weekend.The game will be the third of a four-game road trip for Maurice Lowe's men, and is one they are probably favourites to win. Spartans have won just once in 11 games so far this season, a 1-0 home victory Brooklyn Knights.Second from bottom in the Mid Atlantic Division, Spartans have conceded 22 goals overall, with 10 of those coming at home. They have managed just 11 in reply this season.Hogges, meanwhile, have conceded just one in the past three matches, with goalkeeper Tahj Bell in outstanding form.While Kwame Steede's first-half goal was enough to sink Nor'easters on Sunday, Bell more than played his part with another inspired display in goal.He single-handedly kept the Atlantic City side at bay, denying them a comfortable win for the second time this season, making nine saves in total, and being alert from the very first minute when he stopped a Dwyane Doveshot from close range.“Tahj played a great game,” said Hogges coach Maurice Lowe. “Ocean City were very tough opponents. They made us work hard to the very last minute.”Nor'easters probably should have been three goals to the good before Hogges scored against the run of play, and it was a similar story in the second half when Bell was repeatedly called into action by a home side that finished the match with five strikers on the pitch.“We had so many chances tonight that it's really disappointing not to win,” said Nor'easters captain Terry Gibbs.It's not the first time that Nor'easters have come away from a game against Hogges disappointed. The two teams met in Bermuda at the beginning of June, and then a late Domico Coddington goal salvaged a point for the home side.Nor'easters haven't had much luck in front of goal this season, and have drawn six games so far. They had plenty of chances to put some clear distance between themselves and Hogges, but Junior Chapman and Jack Bailey both missed gilt-edged opportunities.Bailey's miss was especially painful, as it came deep into stoppage time when he headed over the bar with one of the best chances of the game.“Psychologically, it's pretty tough when you could have been up about 4-0 in the first half, but instead we were down 1-0,” said Ocean City boss Neil Holloway. “We had so many chances, but we just couldn't find the scoring solution, even at the end when we had five strikers on the field.”