North Village president Shervin Dill has admitted his club’s mistake in fielding suspended goalkeeper Detre Bell in their Dudley Eve Trophy match against Young Men’s Social Club.

The Bermuda Football Association announced on Tuesday that the reigning Dudley Eve Trophy champions had breached the association’s disciplinary code for fielding an ineligible player and forfeited the match they initially won 1-0. The BFA awarded Social Club a 3-0 victory, which was enough for them to secure a spot in the semi-finals.

Bell had been suspended for two matches after being one of four Village players sent off in last season’s FA Cup final against St George’s at the Flora Duffy Stadium. His punishment came after the final whistle for showing his displeasure towards referee Amaury Majors.

“We accept responsibility for playing the ineligible player after receiving a full explanation,’’ Dill said.

“We had correspondence from the BFA, but we were of the opinion that he had to miss one match from being sent off in the FA Cup final. We just didn’t properly digest the information that the BFA sent to us.

“Him [Bell] and another player received a two-match suspension. We were of the opinion that it was just a one-match suspension for the sending off, so we've had questions answered as to how he ended up with the two-game ban.”

Bell missed Village’s first match against Paget as he was away on national duty, with Terryn Fray deployed in goal in a 1-1 draw with Paget. Bell then returned, prematurely, for the second match against Social Club.

“Personally I feel that the punishment thereafter was a bit harsh, but we’ll take our blows and accept responsibility,’’ Dill said.

“It’s been an administrative learning experience for us. As the defending champions, we’re obviously very disappointed, but we've to accept that we had some responsibility in playing the ineligible player.

“It was our fault that we didn’t decipher the communication correctly. We obviously didn’t purposely play the ineligible player, it’s not anything that I would condone.”