Bog Walk school to appeal, claims Dinthill got unfair advantage

Bog Walk school to appeal, claims Dinthill got unfair advantage

October 13, 2019 0 By Horace Mills

Enid Bennett High School is hoping that no final decision has been made regarding the second-place finisher in Zone K of the ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup Football Competition.

The school told The Beacon that, as a result of a ruling made this week by the competition managers, it was deprived of a fair chance of finishing second and advancing to the next round of the contest.

Enid Bennett High, located in the Bog Walk area of St Catherine, said it will submit a written appeal tomorrow to the body that manages high school sports – the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA).

The school already gave an oral notice of appeal, said Sheldon Huntley, team manager and guidance counsellor at Enid Bennett High.

“The decision is grossly unfair to us,” he declared.

The big problem

Zone K – comprising Enid Bennett High, Dinthill Technical, Charlemont High, and McGrath High School – has been mired in controversy since Charlemont was found to have used an ineligible player.

Dinthill reported the matter to ISSA, explaining that the ineligible player had participated in the two matches it played against Charlemont High.

ISSA, in response, deducted the four points Charlemont garnered in both matches. Charlemont had scored three points in the match it won against Dinthill on September 21, and one point in the drawn match on September 28.

ISSA, in further punishing Charlemont, awarded Dinthill six points from the two illegal matches.

Those points pulled Dinthill from the bottom of the zone to second position.

Enid Bennett High is now claiming that its chances in the zone were unfairly eroded by the six points ISSA awarded to Dinthill.

It contends that ISSA should have disqualified Charlemont for the breach in order to make the playing field level for all other teams involved. That was not done.

Sheldon Huntley, team manager and guidance counsellor at Enid Bennett High

Enid Bennett High, in the meantime, is claiming that the ineligible player may have participated in its match against Charlemont High School on September 7. Charlemont won that match 2-1.

“I went to ISSA to verify if the ineligible footballer played against us, but was told that the match card did not come in as yet. But players on my team said he played in that match,” Huntley told The Beacon. “I think the embroiled team should have been disqualified entirely.”

Enid Bennett High and Charlemont should have played their second match yesterday, but it was postponed because heavy rainfall resulted in the field at Charlemont being waterlogged.

In the other zone match, which was played at Dinthill Technical yesterday, the home team eared a 1-0 win against McGrath, which already comfortably qualified for the next round.

Dinthill, now on 10 points, would be the second team qualified to advance from Zone K. That, however, is now shrouded in uncertainty, considering that Enid Bennett High is making an appeal that may affect the status quo.

By Horace Mills, Journalist; B.A. degree in Media and Communications; CARIMAC, University of the West Indies


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