PROTESTS by officials of Clarendon's National Premier League team, Hazard United, led to a premature end of their Super League first-leg semi-final against Platinum at Clarendon Park yesterday.
The drama unfolded in the 50th minute when midfielder Israel Lewis was sent off by referee Courtney Campbell for a second bookable offence, three minutes after striker Roen Nelson scored to add to Dane Chambers' first-half double, giving the Premier League team a 3-0 lead.
Clive Marshall, the club's manager, immediately objected from the sideline and when his request for an explanation was denied, a further verbal confrontation led to him being ejected from the bench.
At that stage the team's coach, Lenworth "Teacher Lennie" Hyde, joined the protest and when he was issued with a red card, was adamant he would not leave. The chaos drew in spectators and after consultation with senior referees Lee Hines and Clive Wright, the game was blown off.
That sorry saga was, however, partially overshadowed by an entertaining and high quality match-up between Traxx and Cross United in the second semi-final.
Leading goalscorer in the Clarendon Super League, Henroy Mitchell, took his tally to 12 goals with a second half double to give Traxx a 3-1 lead going into next week's second leg.
Earlier, Romando Johnson (41st minute) and Everton Russell (68) had scored to produce a 1-1 tie before Mitchell took charge.
