Two days before the biggest match in recent Bermuda history, football descended into farce last night at the National Sports Centre (NSC).

Less than two hours before Bermuda Hogges were due to kick off against Western Mass Pioneers, Dr Gerard Bean, chairman of the NSC trustees, cancelled the game.

His reason for doing so was to protect the pitch ahead of tomorrow's clash with Trinidad and Tobago. The light drizzle that fell yesterday afternoon was too much for Dr Bean's liking – despite groundstaff and game officials both insisting that the pitch was in a perfect condition, and under no threat from 90 minutes of football.

The decision left Kyle Lightbourne, the Hogges' head coach seething.

"The pitch is fine, there is no way on the face of the earth that a game played on Friday night would have affected it badly for Sunday," he said. "It's firm, and if anything the pitch plays better when it is wet. It will cut up less than if it was baking hot.

"Dr Gerard Bean, whoever made the decision, has shown a complete lack of respect for me, for Shaun (Goater) and for the Bermuda Hogges. It show's a lack of respect for the fans who have come to the stadium, to the people who have travelled from Boston, and for everyone involved in the game. It is a bad advert for Bermuda."

Lightbourne and Goater had been at the stadium most of the afternoon, preparing the ground, but weren't told until 5.15 p.m. of Dr Bean's decision.

"Once again it is the Bermuda Hogges that suffer, but they don't care about that," said Lightbourne. "We will take it on the chin, but the sooner we have somewhere else to call home, the better it is going to be."

The anger that Lightbourne and Goater felt was further compunded by the fact that when they arrived at the NSC they found Trinidad training on North Field, a pitch they had been told was unavailable because of a cricket match in two weeks' time.

"We asked them if we could use North Field, and were told we couldn't because there is an international cricket match being played there in two weeks' time and they wanted to protect the wicket," said Lightbourne. "And then when we got here we found that Trinidad were playing on it. Anyone who knows anything about football knows that training causes more damage to a pitch than playing a game does."

The Hogges were supposed to be playing Western Mass in a double-header, with the second game tonight at BAA Field. That game will still go-ahead, with the posibility that they will try and play again on Sunday at the same venue.

There are further complications, however, with the US side already scheduled to play a cup match at home on Tuesday night. They may not be willing to play three times in four days.

If they don't manage to arrange that the Pioneers will have to return to Bermuda in August, with the trip costing the Hogges a further $25,000. It is money that owner Paul Scope is not about to pay by himself.

"I don't see why we should go to the extra expense when the referees have said the pitch was playable," he said. "We shall certainly be talking to the trustees about this if Western Mass have to come back."