Cup Match team is "unlikely'' to occur again.

The East Enders experienced a turbulent build-up to the selection after three top players were ruled out of contention because of their failure to pay club dues. Eventually Dale Fox and Lionel Cann were reinstated but Dean Minors was excluded.

Club president Mansfield Smith said this week that he doubted whether a similar fiasco would be repeated in the future.

"The players all learned a lesson from it. Now they know that they must be financial before they compete in the trial matches. But all of this is past us now. Deciding what we will do to avoid it next time is an internal matter,'' said Smith.

In July the president and his committee were besieged with problems as they attempted to resolve the matter with the mid-summer classic just a week away.

Such was the intensity of the debate that a committee member even tended his resignation over action taken by the executive committee.

Once a decision was made to officially omit the players, a petition signed by 25, including eight regular Cup Match players, was raised, calling for the three to be reinstated.

The petition also called for an urgent meeting but this was later dismissed because of time restrictions -- a public notice of 14 days was required for a special general meeting.

The club did, however, promise that they would present new recommendations at their annual general meeting at the end of the year with the intention of altering the rules governing team selection. The meeting is tentatively scheduled for December 8.

Smith said that if re-elected this would still be his intention as it wouldn't be in the club's best interests to have a similar problem arise next year.