North Village 0 Southampton Rangers 4

Tre Ming has the perfect start with his new team, scoring two first-half penalties to help Southampton Rangers to a comfortable victory over the league champions in the charity Cup last night at the National Sports Centre.

Ming, one of the biggest transfer moves during the summer when he left PHC, had the disappointment of becoming the first booking of the new season in the thirteenth minute when he went into referee Anthony Francis’s book for showing dissent after being blown down for a foul.

However, the midfielder turned that disappointment into joy when he converted from the penalty spot in the 29th and 45th minutes to put Rangers comfortably in front at half-time.

“This was my debut so everything is new to me, just wearing blue is different,” Ming said afterwards. “It was a bit of a transition for me just to put the shirt on, but I’m glad we could get off on the right foot.

“As a team we’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re taking the right strides. We’ll be definitely trying to build on this performance.

“We have great players on our team and, like I said even before I came to Rangers, we have one of the best players in Bermuda in Quadir Maynard.

“We have international experience and seasoned players like McQuinn Burch, Donte Brangman, Rai Sampson and Jerry Bassett. We’re here to make a difference and show people we’re here to stay.”

The match was evenly contested for the opening 20 minutes with the first chance falling to Rangers midfielder Donte Brangman, who picked up possession before driving a low shot just wide from the edge of the box after a good move in the build up.

However, Rangers broke the deadlock as Ming scored the season’s first goal when he placed his spot-kick to goalkeeper Tahj Bell’s right after defender Terryn Fray was penalised for handball when striker Diaje Hart tried to hook the ball away from him.

Protests from Fray fell on deaf ears before Ming stepped up to put the Friendship Trophy champions ahead. Village seldom threated goalkeeper Shaquille Bean as Rangers continued to create the better chances with Hart lifting a good chance over the cross from six yards following a corner.

Five minutes later Ming struck again from the penalty spot after Maynard was fouled from behind by Ian Simmons after Hart played the ball back to Maynard inside the box.

Village, anxious to reduce the Rangers lead early in the second half, were forced to make a change in defence when fullback Quintonio Lema limped off with a foot injury.

Rangers replaced two-goal hero Ming in the 68th minute with Vernon Perinchief as they continued to control the midfield.

Two late goals added to Village’s misery as they went down 4-0 to Rangers for the second time this year, losing their final league match of last season by the same scoreline at Southampton Oval.

Isaiah Taylor made it 3-0 with a well-placed shot into the near post after running across the penalty box and hitting a left-footed shot past the helpless Bell.

Striker Jarazinho Bassett, a key member of the Rangers attack last season, came off the bench in the 75th minute to replace Hart and finished off the scoring in the 82nd minute when he scored from close range after the Village defence had again been stretched.

A crowd of only 300 was allowed as the BFA put in place restrictions because of the Covid-19 pandemic. All tickets for the match were sold prior to the game.