Dandy Town followed through with a threat to boycott last night?s Friendship Trophy quarter-final penalty shootout with North Village at the Den last night, leaving Reds players warming up against phantom opposition.

Hornets players turned up for practice at St.John?s Field in preparation for this Saturday?s Premier Division clash with Somerset Trojans rather than show up for their shootout commitment with Village.

As Reds players warmed up on the pitch, match officials informed them that their opponents had failed to show, thus ensuring the cup tie would not be settled out in the middle.

Town officials did file an official protest yesterday afternoon over Bermuda Football Association?s (BFA) ruling to settle the cup tie on penalties, an appeal that was eventually rejected.

Though it was not confirmed last night, Village are now more likely to face PHC Zebras in the competition?s remaining semi-final on February 2.

The two urban rivals drew 2-2 after extra time in the first encounter last Sunday.

?We did lodge an official protest seeking further clarification late yesterday afternoon and it was not accepted on the grounds of the principle in which the match on Sunday ended,? a club spokesperson stated last night.

?And we did notify the referee (George O?Brien) that he was in error for abandoning the match without taking penalty kicks. But we decided not to go to Devonshire Rec. to take part in any penalty kicks and that?s it!?

Meanwhile, Village player/coach Kentoine Jennings said he was ?shocked? to learn that Hornets had followed through with their threat to boycott last night?s shootout.

?I really didn?t know what was happening and certainly wasn?t aware that Town had a problem with the penalty shootout,? said Jennings. ?It?s kind of a disappointing shock not to have been notified by them so that we could have taken different steps.?

Like the rest of his team mates, Jennings will now await any further decisions from the BFA.

?I don?t know what the outcome is going to be,? he continued. ?Maybe if we had known previously we could have done something to help the situation. But I?m not sure what the big issue is and I guess we?ll get to the bottom of it later on.

?I really don?t like to win a game over Town in this manner. . . it doesn?t even feel right! And I just wish things could have been done a bit different and we could have had more dialogue.?

BFA league and cup competitions chairman Charles Clarke ? present at the ground ? indicated that Village will probably advance to the semi-finals of the competition.

Village are the defending Friendship Trophy champions.

?At this point we will go back to the association. Everyone has been notified that Dandy Town didn?t show and so the executive will then make a ruling,? said Clarke.

?As it looks now it would appear as if Town have forfeited their opportunity to move on in this competition and whatever fallout comes in regards to that then that will happen in due course.?

Clarke confirmed that Town had officially lodged an appeal to the association.

?Town did lodge an appeal and also submitted their $30 for the appeal,? he said. ?The executive looked at the appeal and then made a decision that was in the best interests of the game.

?In the Friendship Trophy competition there are no replays . . . matches go straight to penalties and although the referee erred on that particular day in order to set things straight we decided a penalty shootout would have to take place.?

BFA president Larry Mussenden added:?The executive had a meeting and decided that Dandy Town Hornets should participate in a penalty shootout.

?They were aware of that decision and knowingly and willingly failed to show up.

?By doing so, they knowingly and willingly put themselves in a position to be dealt with by the BFA as we sit fit.

?We at the BFA support all our members and affiliates but we are all about playing football and that is what we wanted to do in this instance.?