Suspended Hamilton Parish midfielder Leon Raynor yesterday came to the defence of his team, recently fined $500 and put on probation for one year by a Bermuda Football Association (BFA) disciplinary committee.

The BFA?s committee found the First Division club guilty of bringing the game into disrepute following their Premier Division contest last March against Somerset Eagles at Lords after the home team, reduced to eight men, walked off the pitch after 51 minutes forcing referee Vance Campbell to abandon the match.

Although Raynor said he took full responsibility for his actions ? swearing at the ref ? the veteran player contended his team-mates walked off the pitch in protest of ?poor officiating? and not due to the fact they were trailing Eagles 8-1 and staring straight down the relegation barrel.

Raynor ? along with Desmond Crockwell and Irving Burgess ? were all red carded for swearing at Campbell during the March 28 clash.

Burgess was later found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute and handed a five-match suspension and two years probation while Parish player/coach Khari Sharrief received a two-year probation for inciting his team to walk off with Burgess.

Both Raynor and Crockwell will now serve out an automatic one-game suspension which rules them out of tomorrow?s season opener against Wolves at Lords while Burgess won?t be eligible to play until November 28.

?Parish never give up,? declared Raynor. ?Everybody was working hard and never gave up. Basically the team was frustrated with the officiating on the day which was highlighted with him (Campbell) sending Crockwell off after 16 minutes for swearing.

?Referees are just so inconsistent. One day they allow swearing and then the next they don?t. But even when Crockwell swore you could barely hear it and it wasn?t even directed at the ref.?

Raynor also argued that five of Eagles first-half goals were offside.

?They were well-taken goals . . . but from our perspective they were five controversial goals which we basically felt were offside,? he added.

?So we aren?t knocking Eagles . . . but from our perspective the ref made five bad calls and the guys had had enough. The officiating was poor ? and so if the disciplinary committee (BFA) receive a report from a bad referee, then the report must also be poor.?

Now without three of the team?s most senior players and minus the services of 11 players from last season, Parish face an uncertain future.

Still, Raynor, youth director at Parish, is confident his club will overcome their current plight.

?We are struggling for players right now and this sort of thing tarnishes Parish,? he added. ?But we are surviving as a club and presently have a flourishing youth programme and we will make it over the course of this year.?