First Division club Hamilton Parish have had insult added to injury.

After being relegated from the Premier Division last season, Parish have now felt the full force of a Bermuda Football Association (BFA) disciplinary committee who have slapped the East End club with a $500 fine and a one-year probation.

Parish were found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute during a Premier Division contest at Lord?s last March.

In that match against Somerset Eagles, an eight-man Parish team walked off the pitch in protest of having three players ejected for swearing at referee Vance Campbell.

Reduced to ten men as early as the 16th minute when Desmond Crockwell received his marching orders for swearing, Parish fell apart and by half-time were trailing 8-1.

However, Hot Peppers? woes were only beginning as midfielder Leon Raynor and striker Irving Burgess also received red cards for the same offence shortly after the restart resulting in the remainder of the team throwing in the towel and the match being abandoned in the 51st minute.

For his part in bringing the game into disrepute, Burgess received a five-match suspension and a two-year probation while Parish player/coach Khari Sharieff escaped suspension for inciting his players to leave the pitch but was placed on a two-year probation.

Surprisingly, however, both Raynor and Crockwell ? who committed the same offence as Burgess ? went unpunished.

?The committee can only go by what is reported in the referee?s official match report,? explained BFA disciplinary committee chairman Carneal Smith yesterday.

?The committee came to the decision based on the fact the club (Parish) failed to take the initiative to deal with the matter in a more appropriate manner.?

Overall, the number of players coming before the BFA disciplinary committee to answer charges for swearing at match officials has steadily been on the incline in recent years, Smith observed.

?I also think the committee?s final ruling was based on the fact Parish just gave up and took it upon themselves to leave the field facing what appeared to be certain defeat as their opponents (Eagles) held a very sizeable lead,? he added.

?The fact they (Parish players) took matters into their own hands and the club?s failure to take any disciplinary action weighed heavily against them.?

Smith claimed local clubs were not doing enough to help curb the recent upsurge of unsportsmanlike conduct.

?Far too many clubs continue to turn a blind eye or simply ignore the problem,? he added. ?And the committee (BFA disciplinary committee) can only go by what is submitted in the referee?s official match report.?

Parish, who suffered a mass exodus of players over the off-season, will begin the new season at Lord?s this Sunday against visiting Wolves minus the services of Raynor, Crockwell and Burgess ? three of the club?s most senior players.

Key players Jamel Dill, Bermuda international forward Clevon Hill, Jahmiko Marshall and team captain Alvin Baker are among a total of 11 players who severed ties with Parish over the transfer period.