Head coach of St Mary’s College, Jason Edwards has issued a formal apology in a letter to the Secondary Schools’ Football League for his behaviour in the closing moments and after his team’s loss in the controversial SSFL Big-Five final to Presentation College of San Fernando, a week ago.
Edwards, who along with two other members of St Marys’ technical staff were sent to the stands for protesting a decision to allow a goal to Presentation College moments left in the match by the referee in charge, Rodphin Harris, in the last Monday’s Big-Five final, conceded that he overreacted.
“I would like to issue a formal apology to the league administration, sponsors and supporters of both teams (St Mary’s College and Presentation College of San Fernando) involved in the game for my reaction to the referee’s decision to allow the match winning goal,” said Edwards in a letter issued via St Mary’s College to SSFL general secretary Azaad Mohammed-Khan, on Friday.
He added: “My passion for the game, coupled with the contentious decision caused me to overreact and in hindsight, I can see that my reaction, as well as that of my coaching staff was wrong, and for that, I do apologise.”
“I would also like to apologise for advising the players to refrain from collecting their medals. Emotions were running high at the time and due to the fact that the players had to go through the crowd to collect the medals, I thought it was better that we did not collect these medals in the interest of the safety of the players and fans alike,” noted Edwards, who joined St Mary’s in 2006.
He concluded by saying that he looked forward to putting the matter behind him.
Edwards, following the final whistle of the Big-Five final, which ended three minutes into the five minutes of stoppage time, made his way back onto the pitch to confront Harris on his decision to allow Presentation College a controversial goal with just moments left in regulation time.
When Edwards approached Harris, along with a host of St Mary’s players, a police officer came onto the scene and drew a baton.
The play which drew the moment of confusion for the St Mary’s bench, came with approximately five minutes left in the fixture.
St Mary’s College goalkeeper Christian Attong was pushed by Presentation College forward Shackiel Henry after holding onto a cross on his goalline. The contact put Attong, who was in mid-air, over the goalline, but it was unclear whether the ball also crossed the line. Harris looked over to the assistant referee before making his decision to allow a goal. Players from both Presentation College and St Mary’s College seemed surprised by the decision.
Speaking to the media after the match, a member of St Mary’s technical staff, Ryan Shim, who was also sent to the stands by the referee, questioned why the goal was awarded instead of a free-kick in favour of St Mary’s.
Contacted yesterday, Edwards said he never received a ban or sanction by the league, although the league advised his that it will deliberate on whether or not action should be taken. He, however, acknowledged that the match could not and would not be replayed.
Harris, who is the brother of SSFL president Anthony Creed, was subsequently removed on the Fifa list of referees for T&T, allegedly for a series of questionable performances, including that in this year’s Dallas Cup, an annual international football tournament staged in the USA, as well as in local cup tournaments.
Edwards and St Mary’s will be back in action today in the first match of a Coca-Cola InterCol North Zone quarterfinal double-header at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo. St Mary’s faces senior division champion Trinity College, and a win will put it into the semifinal against either Fatima College or Diego Martin North Secondary, the two teams which will contest today’s second North Zone match.