Vere question Wadadah, Faulkland result - Coach wants JFF to investigate

Vere United coach Michael Bennett strongly believes there is a western conspiracy to get Wadadah to 13 points to knock them out of contention to return to the Red Stripe Premier League.

Vere, whose fate is still in their hands, need to beat leaders Molynes United on Sunday at Wembley in Clarendon to secure their spot but Bennett believes there is a plot in the west to position Wadadah to overtake them if they should slip up.

Molynes have already qualified with 15 points from their five matches.

In their last two games, Wadadah defeated Lime Hall of St Ann 6-0 and thrashed fellow St James club, Faulkland 7-3, leaving Bennett to question the credibility of some of the teams in the play-offs.

He also demanded that the Jamaica Football Federation take a look into some of these lopsided contests.

"We (Vere) will go to the Premier League on Sunday. We have no doubt about our ability to get a point or three out of the game. We are not worried about Wadadah, but what we are seeing is that Wadadah, who have never beaten Faulkland, beat them by four goals. How all of a sudden, seven goals is scored on Faulkland. It (suspicions) is obvious. They (Wadadah) also had Lime Hall one love going into the last 10 minutes and it ended 6-0.

"So are they buying their way into the league, or are some teams facilitating some kind of sell-out. I don't understand what is happening. How did Faulkland concede seven goals, when they (Wadadah) have not scored two goals on them all season. So clearly there is a plot, a western plot to bring Wadadah to 13 points," he speculated.

The veteran coach believes that there is enough grounds for an investigation. But despite his conspiracy theory, he is confident they will get the job done and secure their Premier League qualification.

Going nowhere

"I am disturbed about it. The JFF need to look into what is going on. How can a team be conceding seven goals. I scored six on the weekend but I never play Baptist yet and Baptist is deflated because they are going nowhere. But Faulkland now play and concede seven goal, when the most they have conceded all season is two," he continued.

He now expects Sunday's match between Wadadah and Downs to follow a similar pattern. "Wait at Downs on Sunday and see how much Downs is going to concede to them. I am ashamed of these teams doing these things. I have no plot. I am playing true to form but this is blatant sell-out going on," he said.

"But my team is upbeat. We are not easing up, we are making sure we have our place legally. But somebody is trying to drive Wadadah to 13 points and hoping that we lose to Molynes so they can get to the Premier League. That is bad because Wadadah is not playing any quality ball for them to be trying these undermine tactics. But we are very confident because we have not lost at Wembley (home) for a long time and we will get the necessary points to cross over the line," he added.

Wadadah coach, Daniel Ricketts, refutes the allegations. "Faulkland players were down, they can't go nowhere, they can't qualify. Faulkland could barely find a team to come and play. It was about 10 or 11 players. They didn't even have a change," he pointed out.

He strongly argued that the accusers are pointing in the wrong direction. "What I suspected is the JFF trying to get Molynes in the (Premier) League. When the play-offs starts the JFF (usually) hands out rules govering the competition but they didn't. Faulkland is a new team, coming from a league with three cards to miss a match, so without information they continue using the players. But no team would jeopardise using two players out on yellow cards with what is at stake.

"The game was played at 3:30 p.m. and by 9 a.m. the next morning the JFF called to say Faulkland lost the points, where was the (disciplinary) meeting held.

Molynes lead with 15 points, with Vere next on 13, Wadadah have 10, Baptist seven, Wadadah four, and Downs and Lime Hall one each.

In Sunday's other games, Faulkland play Lime Hall at Jarrett Park and Downs take on Wadadah at their Community Centre. All starting at 3:30 p.m.