Southampton Rangers assistant coach Edgar Smith yesterday hit out at what he described as a bad decision by referee Gregory Simons not to send off Ireland Rangers forward Jonathan Bean following what appeared to be a deliberate tackle from behind on Southampton captain Jason Raynor during Sunday's First Division clash at Southampton Oval.

The crunching tackle left Raynor in agony and he was carried off and taken to hospital where it was later confirmed his ankle had been broken.

It was shortly after Bean had given Ireland Rangers the lead against the run of play that the left winger ran some five yards to tackle Raynor from behind, leaving the captain writhing in pain for several minutes on the pitch.

The bone-jarring snap was heard as far away as the club's balcony but referee Simons only issued Bean with a caution, allowing the forward to continue playing while Raynor was whisked away to hospital by ambulance.

At last report yesterday, Raynor was resting comfortably on a general ward after undergoing surgery on his left ankle.

"I was really upset that the guy (Bean) wasn't sent off because it sets a bad precedent right from the start that players can go ahead and do these types of things and still not get punished for it," said Smith.

"The actual foul was outright deliberate and although I feel that the game is supposed to be played hard, it's also supposed to be played cleanly.

"I know that there are times when players do actually get hurt in fair play and although I respect officials' decisions I really thought that he (Simons) should have taken the correct steps.

"I can see if the player (Bean) was going for the ball fairly, but Jason had clean possession of the ball and this guy just ran up from behind and deliberately hacked him.

"But I am not going to take anything away from Island Rangers' performance because I think that they came down here (Southampton Oval) and played well. But we as team also realised on Sunday that we need to get ourselves to peak fitness so that we can compete for the entire 90 minutes."

Ireland Rangers coach Michael Corday said that it was an unfortunate incident and wished that it hadn't occurred.

"It was a mistimed tackle," he said.

"Jonathan was generally going for the ball but he didn't get around the player and was late on the tackle."

Corday said that during the break the methods of tackling were discussed among other things in the dressing room.

Preferring not to comment until he had received Sunday's official match report, newly-elected chairman of the Bermuda Football Referees' Association Aldwin Savery said yesterday that his association were trying to enforce FIFA's tough stance which discourages tackling from behind.

"It all boils down to the opinion of the referee and FIFA really want to discourage tackling from behind that is really designed to harm players," said Savery.

"Any tackle that is deemed dangerous or that can cause serious harm to a player in the discretion of the referee is an automatic sending off."

Meanwhile, the current shortage of match officials was deemed responsible for a controversial incident at Somerset on Sunday in the match between Boulevard and the Trojans.

The only referee's assistant to show up, Curtis Richardson, was given a rude baptism, encountering abuse from both players, team officials and fans, while on the other flank Trojans were forced to use substitute Steve Ludgate to run the line until new linesman Ronue Cann, who arrived at the match as a spectator after assisting during the Southampton-Ireland Rangers clash, replaced the player.

But that was not before Ludgate had kept his flag down for an apparent handball by team-mate Andrew Rahman on the Somerset goal-line.

Trojans striker Marvin Belboda then scored on the next move upfield, prompting two Blazers fans and the entire team to surround referee Richard Knight.

After ten minutes of heated discussion between officials and the two opposing captains, the goal was disallowed and play allowed to continue.

It was only last Friday that Bermuda Football Association announced that the match between Wolves and Prospect had to be postponed because of a shortage of match officials.

BFA referees' committee spokesman Gregory Grimes stated that the shortage would not affect Premier Division games but inexplicably there was a full complement of officials for the First Division match at Southampton Oval while only two officials turned up for the Premier Division clash at Somerset.

"I am not blaming the Bermuda Referees Association, it's just that some of the things that have happened in the past have discouraged people from becoming referees," said Somerset assistant coach Paul Scope yesterday.

"What happened was that we had one inexperienced official and one club official and obviously it didn't help matters. "But sadly we have to accept that because there is such a shortage of referees and we are not going to have any games unless we encourage people to come out. Of course, it would be better if we had more experienced officials.

"Not being critical of the referees, but these incidents certainly don't help the game."