Reggie Lambe could have hardly picked a better time to score his first goal for Bermuda in almost eight years.

Lambe smashed home a crucial 75th-minute winner in Bermuda’s Caribbean Cup preliminary-round qualifying match against French Guiana at the National Stadium on Saturday night.

It was the 25-year-old’s first international strike since plundering four goals in a 7-0 thrashing of St Martin in a Caribbean Cup match in Cayman Islands in 2008.

Lambe and his team-mates will now face a nervous wait to find out whether they advance to the second round as one of the top two teams from group three.

Bermuda, who have taken three points from two matches, are level on points with Cuba who face French Guiana in the final group game in Cayenne tomorrow.

“The goal came at a crucial time and hopefully I’m off the mark again and can get a few more,” Lambe said.

“Zeiko [Lewis] put the ball a little bit wide and I had to take another touch as the defenders came sliding in.

“I had to keep my composure and make sure I found the back of the net. It’s a good result and I’m glad to be back home helping my country.”

The Mansfield Town winger admitted that Bermuda slightly underestimated their opponents who enjoyed the superior swathes of possession during the first half and for periods after the break.

“We were trying to feel them out during the first few minutes when perhaps we should have been trying to stamp ourselves on the game,” he said.

“I think we kind of underestimated them and they had some good touches.

“Being a goal down wasn’t unfamiliar territory for us and we just kept on pushing and got the result.

“I think everyone kept fighting until the end. We all believed we could pull the victory off and now we just have to wait to see what French Guiana do against Cuba — hopefully we go through.”

Lambe headed back to England yesterday ahead of Mansfield’s Sky Bet League Two match at home to Northampton Town today. Mansfield are fourteenth in the table, eight points adrift of the play-offs.

“I head straight back to England as I have to go again with my club team,” said the former Ipswich Town and Toronto FC player.

“We’re trying to get back in and around the play-offs and we have a few games to do it.”

Andrew Bascome, the Bermuda head coach, heaped praise on his players for their “never-say-die” performance against French Guiana. He also believed the players had implemented his tactics well.

“I’m very happy with the performance and most of the credit has to go to the players,” Bascome said.

“We had one tactical solution for Cuba and we came and played a different tactical solution for French Guiana.

“We elected to go 4-3-3 and that put the onus on Reggie and Zeiko to push their full backs back.

“Roger [Lee] came in and did a job in centre midfield and that allowed us to play two midfielders higher up — I thought Drewonde [Bascome] and Tre [Ming] did well to complement that.

“We matched them and showed just as much heart because we were prepared to fight.”

Bascome said he never doubted his team would get themselves back into the match after falling behind in the 36th minute to Rhudy Evens’s opener.

“We stayed organised and worked for each other,” he added. “We have a good group of guys who take instructions well.”