The dethroned champs aren’t too pleased with the manner of their exit.
St Michael North West coach Robert Jones isn’t happy with the organisation of the National Sports Council/Youth Development Programme Under-17 Football Tournament, having questioned both the last-minute rescheduling and the refereeing of their game last Wednesday.
Jones expressed his displeasure after the defending champions picked up an early red card en route to a 4-2 loss to St George South in a round of 16 fixture at Brereton that was brought forward by two days without much notice.
“How can we change the thought process and mindset of these young people and we are allowing them to be victimised in a so-called development programme?” he queried.
“It’s extremely sad. This is why we cannot scratch the surface of progression on and off the field with this generation. Nobody goes to a game to see a referee ref a game,” he added.
It was Jones’ immediate reaction to his team’s exit from the competition, after the 2016 winners St George South appeared to benefit from the early man advantage.
After the sending off, Zachary Clarke immediately capitalised, scoring two goals within minutes of each other before Shaquan Clarke added a second-half brace to seal the deal for St George.
“The very first challenge of the game, within three minutes, a player from St Michael North West was given a straight red,” Jones said.
“Nevertheless, we played on despite we never got the opportunity to settle and prepare, but . . . my players [got] some bad calls.”
He also said the rescheduling hurt his side.
“Our game was rescheduled from the January 6 at Passage Road to January 4, 2018, at Brereton, St Philip at 4:30 p.m., which was impossible for us to be on time because of players’ commitments to CXC exams and transportation issues. That info was said to the organisers ahead of time,” he said. (JM)
