Premier League leaders Dandy Town have been booted out of the Friendship Trophy after failing to show up for last week?s quarter-final penalty shoot-out with North Village, Bermuda Football Association announced yesterday.

During the association?s monthly meeting, an executive decision was taken to oust the 2003 Friendship champions from this year?s competition on the grounds that they failed to comply with a directive ordering both clubs to settle the cup tie from the penalty spot.

The initial clash between the two Premier Division rivals ended 2-2 after extra-time at St. John?s Field but referee George O?Brien, ignoring competition rules and regulations, called for a replay instead of penalties.

After the BFA had over-ruled O?Brien?s decision a day later and ordered the shoot-out to be held prior to a double-header at Devonshire Recreation Club on January 11, only defending Friendship champions Village turned up. Town players, instead, attended a training session.

Village have now been declared winners and will face PHC Zebras in next Tuesday night?s remaining semi-final at a venue yet to be announced in what will be a repeat of the 2001-02 final which Zebras won 3-2 at the National Sports Centre.

The Reds will be gunning for a fourth Friendship Trophy final appearance in five years.

Devonshire Cougars have already secured their place in the April 3 final.

?The BFA executive met and decided to expel Dandy Town because of their failure to show up at the penalty shoot-out,? confirmed a flu-stricken BFA general secretary David Sabir yesterday.

?During their monthly exec meeting on Wednesday, January 19, the executive met and discussed Dandy Town?s no-show on Tuesday, January 11 at the Devonshire Recreation Club to take penalty kicks versus North Village as per the decision of the BFA executive committee.

?As a result of their failure to show, the executive committee has ruled that Dandy Town Hornets are expelled from any further participation in the Friendship Trophy competition and as a result North Village shall move onto the next round.?

BFA league and cup competition chairman Charles Clarke added: ?This could have all been avoided had Dandy Town showed up and taken their penalties.

?But they chose not to and so these are the consequences and people have to be held accountable for their actions ? no matter how they might have felt about the game not continuing on that particular day or the decision to have penalty kicks.

?That was the decision made by BFA executives and something they should have followed.

?On top of that, Town?s decision to train on that particular night demonstrated that they could have turned up at Devonshire Recreation Club for the penalty shoot-out.

?But for them to train while others were waiting for them to show up was a total disregard to the association?s decision. They made their decision and so we have made ours.?

Village president Shervin Dill said he would have preferred to have had the matter settled on the pitch rather than behind closed doors.

?I?m disappointed it had to come to this,? he said. ?We would have liked to have gone through to the next round having won the match on the field.

?We had no issues with having to replay the match but we were not prepared to defy the ruling of the BFA in terms of their decision to have penalty kicks taken.

?We were in no position to appeal because we didn?t have some of the issues Dandy Town had. ?Whilst I sympathise with their issues, our position was to go with the instruction of the governing body.

?But we always supported a replay. However, that wasn?t the decision of the BFA unfortunately and it?s just disappointing it had to come to this end.?