Soccer fans were left angry and confused on Saturday night after referee Richard Knight called off the Premier Division match between Boulevard and Dandy Town at BAA Field shortly before kick-off for what he described as "excess" rugby markings on the pitch.

Those who had gathered at the ground were baffled as to why the Women's Konica Cup semi-final match between Dandy Stars and Hemisphere Royals had been permitted to go ahead as scheduled but not the Premier Division clash.

Also, earlier in the day a Commercial League fixture between BAA Wanderers and Vasco Mariners had been played on the same pitch.

But referee Knight insisted that the game could not go ahead although the markings - which had been made by Bermuda Rugby Football Union for a pre-season Friday evening tournament this month - have been present on the pitch for the past three weeks and until Saturday had not caused other match officials any concern.

Several fans left the ground visibly upset at Knight's decision.

"The reason I called the game off was because of the excess markings and I didn't feel comfortable officiating the game with the field marked the way that it was," explained Knight afterwards.

"Those marks were freshly done. I think that they were put on the field yesterday and I am not going to play the game because of them - that's why I decided to call the game off.

"We had a monthly meeting on October 1 and it was suggested or agreed upon that if any excess markings on the field from rugby or any other sport were found, then no football would be played. I'm also disappointed with one of our senior referees who decided to play a match under those conditions.

"Maybe the lines were not as visible but still the general consensus of the meeting was that matches wouldn't be played if the fields were marked for other sporting activities.

"The lines are very visible and I am not going to take that chance of playing. I will be filing my report with the BFA and they will take it from there."

Knight's late announcement to postpone the match also stunned BAA officials.

"We've had several BFA matches here and no one has said anything about these lines," said BAA secretary Sandra Amott.

"I was working behind the bar and Richard Knight came up to me and said that the game was off.

"At first I thought that he was joking but he said that he had called off the match because of the rugby lines out on the field.

"I then went down to the gate to inform Boulevard officials that there was no game because they were charging people to come in. There could have been an ugly scene down there because some people had already paid to come in. They certainly were not impressed.

"We didn't know anything about this until Knight came out of the blue."

Dandy Town secretary Dwayne Talbot took the decision calmly.

"That's the way the cookie crumbles," he said. "The players and people around football would want the match to go on but the referee has already made his decision and that's that."

However, Boulevard captain Leroy Stevens said he was confused.

"The way I see it is that if the girls were allowed to play I know that we also could have played," he said.

"I definitely know that I could have played on that field because my knowledge must be just as good as theirs.

"It's a big disappointment especially after training all week. The guys were really feeling alright and looking forward to playing against Town.

"But the referee made his decision and so we have to go along with it. But hopefully they (BFA) can reschedule the match for early next week."

Dandy Stars won the women's contest 2-0 to advance to the November 11 final with Rude Girls. Late second half goals from Damina Caisey and Georgana Davis sealed the game.