Bermuda 3

Bahamas 0

Three goals in the final 11 minutes wrapped up a convincing 8-0 aggregate win for Bermuda in the first round of World Cup qualifying at the National Stadium yesterday.

Nahki Wells, who missed a penalty on the stroke of half-time, netted twice and defender Tyrell Burgess scored the other as the home side finished firmly in control.

With an impressive 5-0 advantage from the first leg in Nassau last Wednesday, Bermuda carried on where they left off by dominating Bahamas from the outset.

That they took 79 minutes to break the deadlock was a source of frustration as the near capacity, flag-waving crowd provided fantastic support.

Bermuda made two changes from the first leg, with Keishen Bean replacing Tre Ming, while Reggie Lambe was preferred to Rai Simons as Wells started as the lone striker.

The Huddersfield Town striker had a good chance to open the scoring in the eighth minute when his shot from an angle on the right side rolled inches past the far post.

Bahamas were doing the brunt of the defending as Bermuda created several chances early in the match, including a good effort from Bean which curled wide after Zeiko Lewis forced a corner, one of several for Bermuda in the first 20 minutes.

Retaining the back four that kept a clean sheet in Nassau, Bermuda remained solid in defence while the midfielders continued creating chances.

The best opportunity came when defender Jalen Harvey headed wide from close range after a well-worked corner on the left involving the waspish Lewis. It was the same set piece the team had been working on during a training session the previous day and very nearly worked to perfection.

Wells had a shot parried by goalkeeper Dwayne Whylly after bursting into the box before shooting with his left foot. Justin Donawa was carried off on a stretcher after he took a knock on the half-hour mark and was replaced by Jonté Smith.

Bermuda were awarded a penalty in the 44th minute when Wells was fouled by defender Dylan Pritchard, but the captain blasted his spot-kick against the underside of the crossbar before bouncing back out.

With hardly any real threat from Bahamas, Bermuda replaced goalkeeper Freddy Hall with Dale Eve for the start of the second half, with the Stoke City player tipping a rare effort over the crossbar on the hour.

Wells was joined by Smith up front and suddenly Bermuda started penetrating again.

Bermuda finally found the net in the 65th minute through Smith after a smart build-up involving Wells and Lewis, but it was ruled out for offside by referee Ricardo Montero.

Moments later, Lewis shot inches wide of the far post before Whylly, the Bahamas goalkeeper, made a double save from Wells as Bermuda continued to press hard with 15 minutes remaining.

The deadlock was finally broken when Wells collected a delightful pass from Reggie Lambe before planting a low shot inside the near post. Two minutes later, Burgess doubled his side’s advantage when he steered a left-footed shot inside the post after a pull back by Smith.

The crowd was in a joyful mood by now as Bahamas replaced Whylly in goal with Erik Carroll, who was soon picking the ball out of the net after parrying a Smith cross into the path of Wells to complete the scoring and send the Bermuda fans home with plenty to smile about.