The Premier Division match between Hamilton Parish and fellow relegation candidates Wolves was postponed because of a lack of assistant referees after both teams had arrived at Wellington Oval on Sunday.

The start of the match was delayed before referee Anthony Francis decided to call the game off after consulting with Parish coach Sergio Goater and his Wolves counterpart Vince Minors Jr.

It is understood one of the assistant referees designated for the match left the ground at half time during the preceding First Division contest between X-Roads Warriors and Vasco da Gama.

Francis, who also serves as president of the Bermuda Referees Association, immediately left the ground after calling the game off. The Royal Gazette reached out to the senior official for comment but are yet to receive a reply.

Opposing coaches Goater and Minors both expressed their disappointment that the relegation battle was called off.

“This impacts us big time because now it might be a night game and Lord knows where, so we could lose home-field advantage,” Goater said.

“There’s a lot more involved and then you have work status, so this is big disappointment for us.”

Second-from-bottom Parish and bottom side Wolves are in the relegation zone with three matches to play.

Minors’s team must win all of their remaining matches, significantly improve their goal difference and hope other results go their way if they are to avoid relegation.

Time is also running out for Dudley Eve champions Parish, who will be keen to secure as many points as possible from their remaining matches and also rely on other results to go their way if they are to retain their top-flight status.