An investigation is underway after a ?fan? was allowed to wander around a football pitch, attacking players and threatening a linesman as the Friendship Trophy once again failed to live up to its name.

Last season?s final was abandoned after machete-wielding thugs invaded the Wellington Oval pitch and Wednesday night?s game at Somerset Cricket Club nearly went the same way ? even though only one fan was to blame.

Club and match officials were united yesterday in condemning the lack of security that led to the apparently drunk man punching a player and threatening a linesman in the dramatic quarter-final between Trojans and Boulevard which ended in a penalty shoot-out.

The man was involved in a series of altercations with players from both teams and linesman Antoine Augustus, prompting referee Ronue Cann to threaten to abandon the game.

In the end, Boulevard coach John Rebello had to help coax the fan back behind the railings in order for the game, already deep into the second period of extra-time, to finish.

Bermuda Football Association president Larry Mussenden, after reading the match report in yesterday, immediately wrote to Somerset asking for details of their security arrangements for the game and called for an emergency meeting with the Bermuda Referees? Association.

He has called for a full investigation and also encouraged the player and official assaulted by the player to report their incidents to the Police as well as requesting reports to be sent in to the BFA from all officials and players involved.

The referee, taking charge of his first senior game, has already submitted his report.

?I can?t believe how little security there was,? said Cann, breaking with the tradition of officials not discussing their matches because ?these are our lives we are talking about?.

?A fan can?t just be allowed to walk onto the pitch like that and do what he did. I was disappointed with the security there from the start, there was no one to escort us in at half-time and there was no-one around to stop this guy.

?He just walked across and nobody did anything. I called the officials in and said that I was going to call the game if this guy wasn?t removed.

?It was only when I was happy my assistants felt safe that I continued. Something needs to be done because match officials shouldn?t be at risk out on the field from fans.?

The fan made his first foray on to the playing surface while players were having a break before extra-time began and became involved in a slight scuffle with Raymond Burgess before slowly wandering off again, but not before a brief exchange of colourful language with the Trojans bench.

But it was his incursion in the eighth minute of the second period of extra-time that caused the most concern. The game had briefly halted for an injury when he, and an accomplice, sauntered across the pitch from the main pavilion.

He made a few threatening gestures towards Boulevard players before moving over to where Dion Stovell was receiving help with cramp from a team-mate and he took Stovell?s leg and rolled him over.

His next target was referee?s assistant Augustus, whom he threatened with raised fists and briefly chased him up the line ? but still no club official deigned to intervene.

Once the game restarted, the ball went out of play and landed at the man?s feet. He refused to give it back and when Trojan Andrew Rahman attempted to retrieve the ball to take a throw-in, he was hit in the face.

The player retaliated and the two briefly exchanged punches before Rahman walked away.

It was at that point Cann called the managers onto the field and threatened to abandon the game if the man wasn?t removed.

Once Boulevard officials removed the man, the game resumed without incident with the Blazers eventually winning on penalties.

?He came right up in my face,? said Augustus, one of the younger officials in the league.

?He didn?t really say anything, he just raised his fist and came after me. I wasn?t scared, I was just thinking ?if this guy hits me, this game is going to be over?.

?This isn?t exactly the sort of thing that is going to encourage people to become referees. I?m surprised no one tried to stop this guy.?

Richard Knight, president of the Bermuda Referees? Association, was quick to defend the officials and called for the onus to be placed on clubs to provide security at matches.

?I think the BFA have done all they can,? said the veteran official.

?We have been having meetings about this for years and the clubs have been written to but not a lot seems to have changed.

?I think more responsibility must be placed on the clubs to deal with security to prevent a repeat of this type of incident.?

Mussenden described the incident as ?absolutely atrocious? and called for the man to be identified and banned for life from all grounds.

?I have written to Somerset Cricket Club to ask them for a report of their security measures and their versions of events,? he said.

?I?m also seeking a report from the referee, from the linesman and from any players involved. There was also an executive member there who will be submitting a report.

?I condemn this appalling behaviour by the fan. Football is played successfully in Bermuda every week by hundreds of people from all walks of life and is enjoyed by thousands weekly.

?But I recognise that a foolish act such as this brings with it a lot of negative publicity to the game.

?Football doesn?t deserve that, the teams don?t deserve that and the community doesn?t deserve that. I want to see the full brunt of the criminal and civil law brought to bear on this individual.?