Controversy surrounds the College Cup after Halifax 1sts were docked 2 points following claims they breached tournament rules.
Halifax, previously considered favourites to win the competition, has admitted to fielding an ineligible player during a match against the James 2nds. The player at the heart of the storm, goalkeeper Jake Mundy, had been drafted in to play in a bid to solve a problem area of the team.
Being docked 2 points comes as a blow to Lund’s men, affectionately nicknamed the ‘fax, especially in the wake of a surprise loss to the overachieving Vanbrugh 1sts and has heaped on pressure on the team as they bid to escape the group stages. They are now unable to top Group B and can only qualify for the quarter final in second place.
The move to dock points from Halifax came after much discussion between the tournament organisers, Matt Hallam and David Coupland and various team captains. Lund told Vision that the move was fair saying: ‘I made a mistake’ though he further admitted that he had not been entirely sure of the correct procedure at the time. He added that morale in the team was ‘fine’ and that they were finally ‘getting over the defeat to Vanbrugh’.
The incident has provided some embarrassment for the tournament given that Mark Lund was one of the principle organisers of this year’s College Cup competition.
The discussion also confirmed that, like in previous years, teams will be able to resubmit their squads after the group stages of the tournament.