Dennery missed their chance to move to the top of Tier 1 in the Saint Lucia Semi-Professional Football League on Wednesday night, after an officiating mistake and missed chances. The east coast team played to a goalless draw against Anse La Raye at the Soufrière Stadium.
Dennery entered the match seeking maximum points to keep pace with league leaders, Vieux Fort South. They had a golden opportunity within the first 10 minutes when a long cross from Newton Marshall dropped kindly for Garvin Reggie, who buried what would have been a league-leading seventh goal of the season.
However, the assistant referee’s flag went up, and the goal was disallowed. But the flag was actually for Dennery captain Elijah Joseph, even though Reggie scored after getting past two defenders.
Tensions flared along the touchline from the start. Dennery’s manager was warned for dissent prior to kickoff. Referee Junior George issued a yellow card to head coach Sabbatus Hunte in the 17th minute. In the 87th minute, Sabbatus Hunte and assistant coach Hiram Hunte were both shown red cards for dissent.
On the pitch, cautions were issued to Dennery’s Macgyver Raymond in the 31st minute and Elijah Joseph in the 71st minute. Brandon Williams (10th minute), Dahmanii Berthier (45’+1), and Shanic John (65th minute) were also booked for Anse La Raye.
Earlier in the evening, the match between Canaries and Central Castries was called off, and Canaries were awarded the points.
Central Castries could not play because they did not have their uniforms. After a 30-minute delay past the 7:00 p.m. start time, referee Renlee Napoleon called off the match on the advice of the match commissioner.
The scoreless draw kept Dennery third in the Tier 1 table on 14 points from eight matches, behind two-time defending champions La Clery on 15 points and Vieux Fort South on 17. Anse La Raye are ninth with six points. Canaries move up to fourth, and Central Castries remain in seventh.
