Dandy Town are awaiting a response from the Bermuda Football Association after formally lodging an appeal against the result of their October 17 Premier Division match against PHC, which ended 1-1.

PHC equalised late in the game after goalkeeper Quinaceo Hunt scored from a free kick inside his own half, but the goal should have been disallowed as no other player touched the ball and the free kick had been awarded for offside, from which play is supposed to restart with an indirect free kick.

Under Fifa rules, a match result can be overturned and replayed only in very specific and rare circumstances involving a “misapplication of the Laws of the Game” by a referee, not for a simple error in judgment.

Western Stars Sports Club, under whose auspices Dandy Town fall under, formally submitted their appeal in a letter addressed to the Bermuda Football Association’s Competition Committee on October 21, which The Royal Gazette has obtained a copy of.

Titled “Appeal Regarding Misapplication of Law in Dandy Town vs PHC Match Held on Friday October 17, 2025 at Devonshire Recreation Club Field’, the letter read: “Dear members of the Competitions Committee, on behalf of WSSC/Dandy Town we are submitting a formal appeal regarding the match between Dandy Town Hornets and PHC, in which a clear misapplication of the Fifa Laws of the Game occurred, directly affecting the outcome of the match.

“Please find below a summary of the sequence of events as captured on Fifa+ broadcast footage and verified through match review:

“At 1:46:35 (Game Time 85:21), Riley Robinson was adjudged to be offside.

“The subsequent free kick was taken at 1:47:04 (Game Time 85:49).

“The ball bounced once and entered the goal without touching any player.

“The goalkeeper was credited with the goal.

“Fifa Law 11 states that when an offside offence occurs, the referee must award an indirect free kick where the offence occurred.

“The assistant referee confirmed that he raised his flag for the offside.

“Since no player touched the ball after the indirect free kick, the correct decision should have been a goal kick for Dandy Town.

“Instead, the referee allowed the goal to stand, representing a misapplication of Law 11.

“According to Fifa regulations, a team may protest if the referee has applied the wrong rule of the game and such appeals are valid when a serious error has directly influenced the match result. In this instance, the misapplication of Law 11 “allowing a direct goal from an indirect free kick” constitutes a serious error that directly affected the outcome of the match, as it resulted in a tying goal in the 86th minute.

“We respectfully request that the Bermuda Football Association review this matter and take the necessary action in accordance with the Laws of the Game and the BFA competition rules. Supporting video evidence and timestamps have been included to substantiate this appeal.

“Thank you for your attention to this matter. We trust that the association will handle this appeal with fairness and due consideration.”

However, the club have yet to receive a response to their appeal from the BFA, with president Devarr Boyles confirming there has been “no response to our submission“.

Town are back in action tonight (8pm) when they play champions North Village at Bernard Park in a Premier Division match rescheduled from last Saturday.

Hornets are the only remaining unbeaten team in the league and can return to the summit with victory against Village and coach Jarreau Hayward says his players are up for the task.

“Village are always a tough opponent, so we will have to be mentally and physically ready,” he said. “We've been training well and I know the players are ready for it.”

Village have made a poor start to their title defence after taking three points from their first four matches and are yet to get a win under their belt.

“It's been a somewhat rough start for us and we need to get back on track,” coach Cal “Patches” Dill said.

“Things can change at any moment so we just have to keep putting in the work in training and take every game as it comes. The boys are up for task ahead. We just need to play our game for 90-plus minutes and enjoy it.”