A soccer season already hit by floodlight problems and a referees shortage was thrown into further disarray last night after Bermuda Football Association were forced to postpone four matches at Devonshire Rec because of safety fears.

Officials were concerned spectators would have ready access to makeshift weapons in the event of a disturbance because debris from the construction of a new perimeter wall as part of the widening of Frog Lane Road had been left littering the site.

After visiting the ground, BFA general secretary David Sabir told The Royal Gazette : "It still looks like a construction site up there. There is loose soil and dust lying about and objects that could be used to hit others if someone wanted to be devious.'' The Martonmere Cup semi-final between Dandy Town and Vasco, scheduled for last night, and tonight's First Division game between Devonshire Cougars and North Village were the major casualties, but the Commercial League Cup B Final between North Village Rams and Fire Service and the Second Division meeting between Wolves and St George's have also been hit.

The matches were called off after club officials at the ground, which was due to stage its first fixtures following months of building work, contacted the BFA yesterday advising them not to use the field. This was despite assurances earlier in the week that it would be ready.

Sabir admitted: "It's disappointing. It puts us back in the same situation we were in before. We were hoping and praying the matches would take place because we only have two other night fields and it's been putting a strain on everybody else.

"But it makes for an interesting challenge and just goes to show how intense soccer is on the Island: if one part is not working it affects all the others.'' Attempts by The Gazette to contact officials at Devonshire Recreatio Club proved fruitless last night, and Sabir was at pains not to point the finger in any particular direction. "It's difficult to put the blame on anybody,'' he added, "and that is not my intention.'' But he was unable to say when Devonshire Rec. would be in a suitable condition for football.

Disappointed Dandy Town coach Mark Trott only heard the news a couple of hours before the planned kick-off, but was philosophical about the prospect of fixture congestion: his side were due to meet Vasco again in the Friendship Cup next Thursday but that game has now been put back to make way for the re-arranged Martonmere fixture, for which a new venue has still to be found.

He said: "It's totally out of my hands. I'm sure the BFA will do what's best.

Both sets of players were looking forward to the game but if people's lives were going to be put in jeopardy then it's a small price to pay.'' No new dates have been determined for tonight's games.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, the First Division game between Somerset and Devonshire Colts, originally scheduled for the BAA Field on Saturday night, will now take place at 3.00 p.m on Sunday after Somerset were unable to raise a team for Saturday.

The re-arrangement has also had a further knock-on effect on the PHC v Vasco confrontation. Originally planned for Saturday night, ongoing light problems forced it to be moved to Sunday afternoon. Now a lack of referees means it has been rescheduled again; it will take place at 8.00 p.m. on Monday night at Somerset CC.

Confused? There's more, on a day the BFA will want to forget in a hurry.

They were forced to make a fresh draw for the first round of the FA Challenge Cup after discovering their original one, released to the media on Monday, would leave them with 18 clubs instead of the requisite 16 in the hat for the second round.

Sabir described it as "an administrative oversight''. The revised draw is: November 4 -- Lobster Pot v Ireland Rangers; Forties v St George's All Stars; Robin Hood v Fire Service; Exiles v BAA. November 9 -- Lobster Pot or Ireland Rangers v Paget; Robin Hood or Fire Service v Prospect; YMSC v Wolves; St David's v Somerset Eagles; BAA or Exiles v Hamilton Parish; St George's All Stars or Forties v St George's CC.