A drawing of lots will be the method of choice to determine the two teams that qualify from the Dudley Eve Trophy group B after all, the Bermuda Football Association said today.

The BFA had planned to hold the draw last week but postponed it after Dandy Town Hornets, Devonshire Cougars and Robin Hood — who finished locked in a three-way tie with matching goal difference, as well as the same number of goals scored and conceded — unanimously opposed it.

But it seems the BFA’s decision “to explore the alternatives” only served to delay the inevitable, with the drawing of lots now scheduled for tomorrow at the Clyde Best Centre of Excellence at 12.45pm.

“On Monday, September 28, the club representatives of Devonshire Recreation Club, Robin Hood Football Club and the Western Stars Sports Club [Dandy Town] met and shared useful discussion,” David Sabir, the BFA general secretary, said in a written statement.

“After the valued deliberation, the Executive Council determined that the decision to proceed with the drawing of lots is in the best interest of the competition.”

The remarkable set of circumstances arose after Hornets defeated Hood 2-1 in their final group match. Any other scoreline would have spared the BFA’s competitions committee from having to separate the teams by such an arbitrary method.

Before the final round of Dudley Eve Trophy group fixtures, the BFA confirmed that there was nothing in the rules governing the competition to deal with such a deadlock.

PHC Zebras won group A after defeating Somerset Trojans 2-1 in their final group match and will now face the runners-up from group B in the semi-final. Hamilton Parish were eliminated from group A.

Group A runner’s up Trojans will take on the winner of group B in the remaining semi-final. Both semi-finals will be held on Sunday, November 1 at Lords in St David’s.

The group B gridlock has evoked memories of the 1981-82 Dudley Eve Trophy final between Trojans and PHC which the latter was officially declared the winner of by the flip of a coin after two-legs and a penalty shoot-out failed to separate the two arch-rivals at the National Stadium.

The two teams refused to play a third match at BAA Field and after a long dispute over the matter a Special Commission’s findings revealed the Dudley Eve Trophy final should be determined in accordance with the rules by the tossing of a coin or the drawing of lots.

Then BFA president Gerard Bean tossed the coin at a brief ceremony at the National Stadium, Somerset’s Stevie Riley wrongly called tails and PHC captain Marischal “Mop” Astwood readily accepted the trophy, which was Zebras’ maiden Dudley Eve title.

n The Premier Division match postponed from Saturday between Robin Hood and Dandy Town Hornets has been rescheduled for Thursday, October 8 at 9pm at Goose Gosling Field.