The shortage of senior match officials took its toll on Sunday’s First Division fixture between Southampton Rangers and promoted Boulevard at Southampton Oval.

The contest was postponed because of the ongoing situation and will now take place at the same venue this Sunday at 12.30pm.

According to Bermuda Referees Association president Anthony Francis, the shortage of senior referees has reached a “critical” stage, forcing the BFA to implement emergency measures, including spreading fixtures farther apart and relying on youth match officials and overseas referees to offset the shortfall.

Fifa referees are also occasionally flown in under the Fifa Forward Programme to assist with weekend matches, while senior referees have been forced to delay their retirement owing to the shortage.

“The numbers are critical, and we’re grateful to the BFA, the scheduling committee and the clubs for helping us organise football so we can cover games,” Francis told The Royal Gazette in a previous interview. “We have a maximum of 15 referees but need 33 to comfortably cover First and Premier Division matches.

A total of 16 goals were scored in the three matches that were played on Sunday, with Somerset Trojans scoring half of that amount in an 8-0 drubbing of Somerset Eagles in a lopsided West End derby at White Hill Field.

Keyni Mills led Trojans’ charge with a hat-trick, Enrique Mendes added a brace while Kymani McNeil, Jaden Ratteray-Smith and Jahnai Ratteray also got onto the scoresheet.

Rejuvenated Robin Hood pulled off an upset with a 3-2 win over league champions X-Roads Warriors at Goose Gosling Field.

Zias Smith, Taurean Manders and Chance Eve netted Hood’s tallies with team stalwarts Donovan Thompson and Paul Simons replying for X-Roads, who suffered their second loss of the season.

The remaining match saw ten-man Vasco edge hosts St David’s Warriors 2-1 to chalk up their second win of the campaign in another close affair at Wellington Oval.

Vasco led 2-0 on goals from Rychus Symonds and Kevin Arruda before Kontai Burton grabbed a late consolation for St David’s with a powerful header in second half stoppage time.

The visitors were reduced to ten men in the 85th minute when Kyshon Burgess picked up a second booking for kicking the ball into the net following the whistle.