Southampton Rangers have been kicked out of the FA Cup for using an ineligible player.

Also punished were coach Jomar Wilkinson and player Najiyah Raynor, the player at the centre of the conyroversy. They have both been suspended for one game and the club have been handed a $150 fine.

Rangers won the match 4-2 with Raynor coming on as an 81st-minute substitute, just before St David’s scored their second goal. The ruling from the Bermuda Football Association’s competitions committee reversed the result.

“Due to the breach, Southampton Rangers are adjudged to default the match and the opposing team, St David’s, declared the winners with a score of 3-0,” the BFA said in an e-mail.

Yesterday, Greg Steede, the assistant sports chairman at Southampton Rangers, expressed disappointment with the ruling which effectively hands his club their first loss of the season.

The club, he said, was never asked to explain their position. “We never got our side of the story out,” he said.

“When we got to the game our teamsheet was done, we handed it in to [match commissioner] Zane Stowe who took the paperwork. He went over it and came into our changing room and called off all our numbers. The player was there but his number never got called. He did go on the field and that was our mess up.

“The player came on in the 81st minute and touched the ball once, made one pass, so he never helped change the game,” Steede said.

“St David’s showed up with their paperwork three minutes before the referee blew the whistle, but the law states that teamsheets have to be handed in 30 minutes before the start.”

The ruling is a blow to Rangers who lost to Robin Hood in last year’s final and were hoping for another good cup run to go with their recent triumph in the Shield competition.

They will return to St David’s tomorrow for another meeting, this time in the First Division.

bodyindent: “I’ve got players who now don’t feel like playing any more because the BFA didn’t take time to hear it from both parties,” said Steede.

Steede confirmed that the club had lodged an appeal with the BFA after paying a $100 appeal fee.

Thursday’s ruling is consistent with a 2015 decision when Dandy Town were stripped of the Friendship Trophy after substitute Kevin Hurdle was not listed on the teamsheet for the final against Robin Hood which Town won 4-3.

St David’s will now go into the quarter-final draw next week with one other First Division side, St George’s, who produced the only upset in last weekend’s first round when they beat Devonshire Cougars 3-2 on kicks from the penalty spot.

n Just one Premier Division match has been scheduled for Sunday, with Boulevard playing PHC at St David’s in a make-up match from November 25.

That match will start at 3pm with the St David’s versus Rangers match moved forward to 12.30pm.

PHC, presently level on 25 points with Robin Hood, have the chance to reclaim top spot and move three points clear with victory over Boulevard who need a win of their own to climb out of the bottom three.

Other First Division matches will see St George’s and Hamilton Parish, the fourth and third-placed teams, playing at Wellington Oval while second-placed Somerset Eagles meet Ireland Rangers at Malabar Field. Wolves take on bottom team Vasco at Garrison Field and Young Men’s Social Club host Flanagan’s Onions at Police Field, all games starting at 3pm.