referees following what he deemed "inconsistent'' officiating during Sunday's Coca-Cola First Division match between Devonshire Colts and Southampton.

Raynor was particularly irate over a yellow card issued by Keith Smith to substitute Shawn Simons for a foul on Leonard Hypolite of Colts moments after his entrance into the game.

Numerous calls and no-decisions by Smith was said to have adversely affected both sides in the match, which was comprehensively won 3-0 by Colts and plunged Rangers deeper into the relegation zone.

A letter of protest to the Bermuda Football Association (BFA) was said to challenge the booking handed Simons, who ironically had just returned from a three-game suspension for swearing.

"It was terrible to see the officiating out there (on Sunday) and I can see why these young guys are getting into trouble with the referees,'' said Raynor, who noted a few other occasions where he felt the actions by players were more brutal than that involving Simons and no warnings were issued.

"I have no gripes with what Colts did, they played well, and we'll battle to the end, I just want to show how inconsistent this guy was.

"They need to send some people down to some of the trouble spots, like in South America, and check how things are done.'' Simons and several team-mates fired torrents of verbal abuse at Smith and his two limesmen, Cal Simons and Oral Swan, berating them for perceived incompetence.

The trio however, cast a deaf ear to the unkind taunts and there was no further incident.

Meanwhile, president of the Referees Association, Gregory Grimes, told The Royal Gazette that there was no verifiable recourse for clubs in regard to overturning judgments made on the field and that generally the level of officiating on the Island was good.

"The referee's decision is final,'' said Grimes. "Anything that goes on on the pitch is under his discretion.

"I would say that based on the limited numbers we have the level here is excellent.

"You don't get players having to play two full matches on the same day or one day after the other.

"For the level we maintain, considering the pressure we're under, I feel we do an excellent job.'' BFA administrator David Sabir similarly sprung to the defence of the referee, reaffirming Grimes' statements.

"He (Raynor) has no grounds of protest,'' a bewildered Sabir said. "He may not be in agreement with the yellow card, but at no point in time can a team appeal the decisions of a referee.'' As far as the refereeing situation on the island, Sabir highlighted the fact that numerous pleas had previously gone out to all member clubs, including Southampton, to supply at least two members for training in methods of soccer officiating in order to help alleviate the current shortage and that none responded.