against players involved in Tuesday's melee at the end of the Friendship Trophy semifinal between PHC and Devonshire Colts at BAA Field.

Referee Peter Sousa confirmed last night that he has submitted a report to the Bermuda Football Association and would not be specific on its contents.

Video footage showed Devonshire Colts player Yul Wade and squad member Jay Bean involved in a clash with PHC coach Jack Castle.

Castle and Wade described their involvement to The Royal Gazette in detail yesterday. Bean, who was a spectator on Tuesday, and Crockwell could not be reached for comment, but were implicated.

"I was walking off accepting the result of a replay,'' said Castle. "Jay Bean came wielding a helmet and I restrained him from hitting (Carlyle) Crockwell. After that was over I proceeded to walk away.

"Yul Wade was walking past me and he shouted something to me like I should mind my own business. He pushed me and I put up one hand to say `that's not necessary' and he pushed me again. The next thing I knew I was being hit.'' Added Castle: "My natural reaction was to retaliate. Then Jay Bean came towards me and I thought I lost it a bit.'' The fighting broke out at the end of the extra-time match as Sousa and his two linesmen Roddy Burchall and Lawrence DeShields were heading back to the officials' changing room in the clubhouse.

Castle admits he is not certain what caused the initial outburst. "I'm not sure but something was going on behind the goal with Crockwell, Jay Bean, some Colts fans and PHC fans. I just thought I was trying to stop an incident.'' Wade, who acknowledged shortly after that his actions were being filmed, admitted that he "pushed and punched'' Castle but wanted to explain how the incident first began.

"After I was substituted I stood behind the goal with Jay Bean and my lift, Ray Jones,'' said Wade. "Somebody took a shot that went wide and Jay got the ball and threw it at Crockwell. Crockwell came behind the goal and kicked Jay in the groin.

"Jay wanted to grip him while the game was still going on but PHC's trainer Ellie Wilson stopped him and told him not to worry with it and Jay disappeared.'' Wade said he was at a distance when Bean returned to the field after extra time was over. "I saw Jay running on the field with a helmet in his hand and by the time I got there I saw Jack Castle grip him and drag him to the ground.

"I told Crockwell that he was wrong for what he did and he kept walking away.

I then told Jack that he had nothing to do with it and that he didn't know what happened.

"I pushed him, he put his hand in my face and I pushed him again and punched him. That was all I had to do with it.'' Wade, no stranger to disciplinary action, accepts that he may have to spend some time away from the game after the BFA fully reviews the incident.

"I turned around and saw the TV camera and knew I was booked,'' he said.

Castle, however, maintains that he did nothing to provoke the incident and would feel hard done by if a suspension was forthcoming.

"If players are going to be punching off officials and they (BFA) deem to punish me then it will be time to get out of football,'' he said.

"I was trying to prevent something and it escalated to where I was on the receiving end. I watched the tape over and over and I definitely don't think I was wrong for what happened.

"I definitely want to apologise to my players and club officials for the way I reacted. Thinking about it, I definitely was wrong with the way I reacted.

"I will apologise to my players when we meet tomorrow night. Being hit in the mouth and seeing blood, I reacted badly.'' Castle said it is unlikely he will take legal action. "That's an option but I think that it's a football issue and should be dealt with by the BFA,'' he said.

Robert Minors, acting president of Devonshire Colts, said his club would be looking into the matter.

The security at BAA field has been brought into question but club president David Kneisler believes that today's society will lends itself to violence regardless.

"The wire (behind the goal) was definitely up and it was up tonight when we trained,'' he said. "It's so sad that something like this has to occur. I am very disappointed because this makes our job just more difficult to control spectators.

"We can stop people sitting in various areas but tempers flare for various reasons. We have to do something because this is spoiling the game.

"We see historically where people can play the game, shake hands and be friends afterwards. But we seem to have a more violent society now.'' JACK CASTLE YUL WADE CARLYLE CROCKWELL JAY BEAN.