Bermuda Hogges coach Maurice Lowe believes the future remains bright for his team despite failing to reach their goal of winning at least 50 percent of this season’s matches.Hogges started the campaign with high expectations, hoping to challenge for the play-offs but finished ninth in the Mid Atlantic Division with 14 points from 16 games.A nine-game losing streak hardly helped the Hogges cause but they finished with a flourish, winning their final three matches, all at home.Lowe acknowledged the ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ characteristics of his side but insisted the players had learned a great deal from their topsy-turvy campaign.“The last three games showed we could compete in the league but we were not good enough as a whole throughout the entire season and it showed in certain matches when we lacked a few things,” said Lowe, who signed off the season with a 3-1 win over Westchester Flames on Sunday night.“It’s a learning curve for everyone, we fell short of our goals this year in terms of our record in which we were looking to finish with a .500 record. We came just short of this and will look to make improvements in the off-season.”With Bermuda national team’s Digicel Cup campaign on the horizon, Lowe believes the Hogges season served as ideal preparation for those players heading to Cayman Islands for first round group games next month.“The main goal was to prepare the players for what’s next for them in terms of their respective competitions coming up, and (against Westchester) we wore the national team jerseys in that regard and there were a lot of reasons to go out and perform well,’ added Lowe, who also coaches First Division side BAA Wanderers.Hogges’ record of four wins, two draws and ten defeats didn’t make for pretty reading but their strong finish suggested they can hold their own in the Premier Development League, especially when they are able to field their strongest team.Prior to Sunday’s game against Westchester, the Hogges squad attended the funeral of Devonshire Cougars midfielder Tumaini Steede who died last week from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.Lowe said the players were determined to pay tribute to Steede, a Bermuda international, by defeating Westchester.“We lost one of our members recently and we were looking to go out and get a win for him. We knew Westchester have had good times against us in recent seasons, so we had to overcome that as well.“They usually beat us quite handily and the result shows that we have come a long way. The last three matches we have played some good football and with better finishing it could have been even more.”