By Audley Boyd, Staff ReporterFORMER NATIONAL Premier League kingpins Wadadah were hit hard following penalties handed down by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) against teams which had used ineligible players in the competition's second round games.
Four judgements were handed down in accordance with Article 16, Rule 16.1.4. which says teams which use illegal players will automatically lose the game and their opponents awarded three points with a score of 3-0.
All the penalties were incurred because the respective clubs erred in not withdrawing players from the next fixture after they had accumulated three yellow cards.
The players and games in which they made the infractions were Waterhouse's Roger Rodney, against Harbour View; Village United's Jermaine Anderson against Harbour View; Wadadah's Dwight Heron, in the game against Rivoli; and another Wadadah man, Oneil Robinson, in their MoBay derby against Seba.
All these games were played in December last year.
In the case of Rodney, Harbour View had already beaten Waterhouse 2-1 so his team lost the goal scored while Harbour View came away with a clean slate.
The same applies for the case with Anderson and his team Village United, which had lost the encounter 2-3 at Harbour View.
Wadadah though, had two points taken away and a six-goal drop in their concession column to be the biggest losers as they had drawn the respective encounters against Rivoli (3-3) and Seba (0-0).
On the flip side, those teams gained heavily, each picking up two points and a plus three goal difference.
"It's very unfortunate for us because losing two at this stage is very sad," bemoaned Wadadah's coach, Carlton Alexander when contacted by phone last night.
His team had picked up the tempo significantly after playing badly in the first round where they holding up the bottom place in the standings with only six points.
"The players are disappointed to have played so hard in the last couple of games and then lost the points which we need so badly," Alexander further lamented.
They had won 10 points this round but the deduction has lessened their overall tally to 14 and demoted them to second from bottom on 14 points.
Rivoli's two, combined with Wadadah's loss, made a swing for the Spanish Town side which put them three clear of Wadadah on 17, third from bottom and one behind Constant Spring (18).
Seba meanwhile, jumped from 24 to 26, distancing themselves from Waterhouse (24) and almost a game closer to fifth place Village (29) and fourth place Tivoli (30).
