Costa Rica 2 Bermuda 1

Bermuda went out of the Concacaf Under-20 Championship fighting after the host nation got the better of them at the Estadio Nacional on Saturday night.

Oneko Lowe put Bermuda ahead against the run of play with a sublime finish after taking advantage of a loose goal kick. But the hosts hit back through a Tehvan Tyrell own goal and Randall Leal’s winner that was enough to catapult the Central American country through to the classification stage with group C winners El Salvador.

Bermuda went into the match needing to win by two clear goals after Trinidad and Tobago shocked lacklustre El Salvador 2-1 beforehand.

Still, Bermuda’s players went about their task admirably and, with captain Liam Evans leading by example at the back, frustrated the home team with a solid defensive display backed by the superb goalkeeping of Detre Bell, who made a series of saves to keep his team in contention.

Left back David Jones also put in a good shift and enjoyed some success overlapping down the flank to assist in his team’s rare attacks.

After weathering some sustained pressure, Lowe turned the game on its head and stunned the home crowd with his second goal of the tournament to put Bermuda in front.

The Dandy Town forward pounced on a wayward goal kick from Mario Sequeira, before driving forward, pushing the ball past Costa Rica defender Yostin Salinas and rifling a left-footed shot inside goalkeeper Sequeira’s near post.

Costa Rica nearly responded immediately when forward Jimmy Marin’s looping header bounced off Bell’s crossbar.

Bermuda looked to have done enough to take a slim advantage into the break, but striker Tyrell sliced an attempted clearance from a corner into his own net with two minutes left in the half.

Bermuda suffered another setback when central defender Zenawi Bowen was replaced during the interval after experiencing discomfort and his absence seemed to disrupt the team’s chemistry.

Costa Rica kept the ball longer in the first half and that trend continued in the second as they bombarded Bell’s net in search of the go-ahead goal.

The host nation’s dominance finally showed up on the scoresheet when Leal scored what proved to be the winner when he drilled a low drive into the bottom right after going unchecked in the penalty area.

Costa Rica were denied an opportunity to pull further ahead in the 69th minute when Marin’s effort was cleared off the line by Mazhye Burchall.

Bermuda were limited to only one chance in the second half, which Tyrell wasted after failing to get on the end of Jones’s cross.

Frustration began to set in as Bermuda chased the game with Lowe picking up a yellow card for raking his studs down the ankle and instep of Costa Rica substitute Bernald Alfaro, who was taken off the pitch on a stretcher.

That incident came on the heels of another that saw match-winner Leal also taken off after coming out on the worst end of another crunching Lowe tackle.

Costa Rica threatened to open the floodgates down the stretch as Bermuda faded only, but were denied by wayward finishing and the goalkeeping of Bell.

SCORERS

Costa Rica

Tyrell (og) 43, Leal 50

Bermuda

Lowe 26

TEAMS

Costa Rica: (3-5-2): M Sequeira — E Espinoza, P Arboine, Y Salinas — I Smith, L Hernandez, R Leal (sub: J Martinez, 78), J Arguedas, R Cordoba (sub: B Alfaro, 86) — J Marin (sub: K Masis, 74),

A Reyes. Booked: Arguedas. Substitutes not used: D Mesen, E Gonzalez, M Loria, J Daly, A Barrientos, E Juarez

Bermuda (4-5-1): D Bell — D Jones, L Evans (capt), Z Bowen (sub: P Douglas, 46), A Simons — K Milan-Butterfield, O Bascome, O Lowe, K Scott (sub: J Ratteray-Smith, 63), M Burchall —

T Tyrell (sub: N Rego, 63). Booked: Simons, Lowe. Substitutes not used: J Hill, T Harris, A Lewis, J Furbert, J Swan,

Referee: D Fischer (Canada)