Violence surfaced in football again on the weekend with a player attacking his coach in a Commercial League B Division match at Shelly Bay, forcing referee Glynn Gilbert to abandon the match at half-time.

The incident occurred in the game between Valley International and Devonshire Lions just as the second half was about to start.

Valley coach Ashton Thomas attempted to substitute midfielder Chris Dailey with regular goalkeeper Bim Badamosi -- who arrived late -- to allow for top scorer Kevin Isaac to return to the front line.

An angry Dailey reportedly showed his displeasure at the substitution by attacking the coach and fighting broke out with Thomas defending himself. The fracas went on for several minutes as players from both teams tried to calm the situation.

But Gilbert, a retired referee who was helping out because of a shortage, eventually decided to abandon the game with the score at 1-1. Sean Smith had scored for Valley and Gary Bascome for the Lions.

"I had to defend myself, I took as much as I could. I wasn't going to allow it to go any further,'' said Thomas, who is also the president of Valley and the club's founding member in 1993-94. The club was formed for the youth in the Port Royal area of Southampton.

Thomas confirmed that Dailey has already been banned from the club.

"That's the end of him for the Valley,'' said the president/coach. "He was very much the new player to the club, but he was not a disciplined player. He felt it (substitution) was a personal thing.'' The incident came just a week after six players were sent off in two First Division matches, leaving BFA officials concerned about the conduct of players.

"Soccer itself doesn't need that,'' added Thomas. "There is too much violence and not enough positive stuff promoted within soccer.

"In the past we've had problems with one or two players walking off the field, but it's just a game and we come out to have fun. If you feel you want to walk off and leave your team-mates in jeopardy, we'll just get rid of you altogether.'' Thomas praised the behaviour of referee Gilbert, his own players as well as the Lions players for their conduct during the incident.

"I appreciate Mr Gilbert for filling in, he did a commendable job,'' said Thomas who apologised to the fans and the players for the incident.

"I must also commend the Devonshire Lions players for trying to separate us and calm things down. Even his team-mates tried to talk to him but he is not a reasonable person.'' The lone A Division match on Saturday saw defending champions BAA Wanderers beat Lobster Pot 2-0 with Thomas Gribbon scoring in the sixth and 44th minutes.

B Division leaders PHC Raiders clinched promotion back to the top division when they hammered nine-men Wolves Pack 6-0. Miles Smith scored twice and Vance Campbell, Brian Anderson and Keith Bell each netted once. Delroy O'Brien scored an own goal to add to the tally.

Second-placed Exiles boosted their chances of joining Raiders with an 8-3 romp over third-placed Belco who could only field eight men. Marlon Lindsay, Mitchell Raynor and Michael Holdipp scored for Belco who now trail Exiles by nine points.

Devonshire All-Stars beat Bermuda Pest Control 2-0 with both goals coming in the second half through Dawyn Cox and Richard Jones.

St. George's All-Stars beat Somerset Extros 5-2 with Cal Rayner scoring four of the goals and Charles Wade getting the other.

Women's League action on Friday night at Devonshire Rec. saw Rude Girls beat PHC Teasers 2-0 with Sakena Clarke and Tiffany Swan scoring in the second half for Rude Girls.

BAA and Wolves Girls drew 1-1 with Waynette Thomas opening the scoring for Wolves and Sandra Medeiros replying for BAA, also in the first half.

The two women's matches that were postponed on February 6 have been rescheduled for March 17 at Devonshire Rec. Rude Girls play Prospect in the 7.00 opener and PHC take on Rude Girls at 9.00.