This Is Guernsey

By Nick Mollet

SUNDAY Soccer League cup holders OCS want their abandoned quarter-final against Academy Cleaners replayed despite having walked off the pitch. But Academy Cleaners coach Paul Rimmer has branded the situation as ‘a joke’.

The match was abandoned when OCS decided to walk off after about an hour when they were down to nine players and were trailing 2-1 to the high-flying second division side.

OCS sponsor and secretary Mike de Laune, who was not at the game, was given information by one of the team’s players, who is also one of his employees.

He was told that the game at Port Soif, which had been scheduled to kick-off at 10.30am, did not get under way until after 11 because a referee had not turned up.

‘We only started with 10 players and they wanted one of our players to run the line so we were down to nine,’ he said.

It is understood OCS were back to 10 men as a spectator agreed to act as a referee’s assistant during the first half, before having to leave early in the second period.

The half-time score was 1-1 after Jamie Pang had equalised for Academy.

De Laune was told that Academy Cleaners went 2-1 up early in the second half via a Jason Sarahs penalty. Then the assistant had to go and OCS were back down to nine.

‘They made a good effort all the way through.’

Unhappy OCS then abandoned the game - allegedly because they thought the opponents had been unsporting in their behaviour.

‘There was bad feeling because of them complaining about getting a ninth player on,’ said de Laune. ‘That was certainly unfair.’

The team are planning to apply to have the game replayed.

But Rimmer was not happy with the attitude of the OCS players and the situation.

He believes that due to a misunderstanding, Johnny Mallett could not referee the game and one of his players had to go and pick up another referee, Garry King, and give him a lift to the pitch.

Rimmer insisted that before the scheduled 10.30am kick-off, OCS had only five players.

‘I asked if they wanted to give us the game and they started phoning around to get more players and they started with 10 men,’ he said.

‘Second half they came and asked us about the linesman, with a real attitude. They went down to nine men before they walked off the pitch. When they started walking off, I said to the captain that they might as well play the rest of the game.

‘I said it was only because they were losing.

‘I don’t want it replayed. We waited just under an hour for the game to go ahead when we had been ready at the start. The fact they had only five players before the game and then wanted to get it postponed is a joke. They would have had to forfeit the game anyway and I did not expect this.

‘The first half went really well and I did not expect their attitude afterwards. I definitely would not want a replay because that would not be fair on my team,’ added Rimmer.

SSL secretary Mark Fallaize said that the matter would be dealt with at the league’s next meeting on Thursday 21 February.

‘Although we have been made aware of this situation, we are unable to comment at the moment as we have not contacted all parties involved and it is therefore not possible to elaborate further,’ he said.

If the result stands, it will mean that there will be four second-division teams in the semi-finals.

Access Scaffolding pulled off a big shock by beating first-division leaders Indian Cottage 1-0 at a heavy and windswept Delancey Park on Sunday afternoon.

The only goal came via a goalkeeping gaffe in the first half when 16-year-old stand-in Marcus Piercey unluckily misjudged a long-range cross and the ball bounced off his body into the net.

Indian Cottage went close numerous times through Dan Smale, Jamie Roussel, Errol Hogan and Garth Cronshaw.

But with ex-Muratti midfielder Mark Culverwell and Michael de Carteret outstanding at the heart of the defence, they were unable to find a way past former island goalkeeper Matt Oliver, who was in inspired form.

First-division side Mariners were dumped out of the cup by Intersport, who produced their best performance of the season to trounce them 7-0.

Lee Matthews and Stuart Snell both netted a hat-trick with Zak Pollard grabbing the other.

‘It was one of those games where everything seemed to click into place and we are very pleased,’ said Intersport’s Gary Duquemin.

‘The boys got the ball down on the deck and played well and our coach and sponsor were over the moon.’

Intersport led 5-0 at half-time, with the outstanding Paul Duquemin and Dean Trustum bossing the midfield.

‘I thought we would get a harder game,’ admitted Duquemin.

In the other quarter-final tie, new boys London House Dogs were handed a walkover by Wayfarers.