Rovers stay away

ROVERS' refusal to play on Boxing Day could lead to the first concession at the top level of island football in living memory.

After having rejected by the GFA their Christmas Eve request to allow the away game against Bels to be postponed and moved to another date, the Port Soif Club gave notice that they would not be arriving at the Track.

Brian Horsepool, Rovers club secretary, said it was not a decision that his club had taken lightly.

'I can't force players and coaches to turn up.'

Rovers' withdrawal is most likely to lead to a £25 fine and the awarding of a 3-0 defeat, but GFA chairman Mark Le Tissier took a dim view of the move and said that expulsion from the league was among the options open to the GFA board when they meet early in January to discuss the matter.