THE new National Premier League format did just what was intended: extend an olive branch to teams battling to avoid the drop. No one expected Seba United to do the same.

Reno, if only by a whisker, are smiling from ear to ear as they would have already been demoted had the competition ended as it did in former years, with the completion of three rounds.

Then, the three-time champions from Westmoreland were rooted second from bottom in the other relegation position with August Town, relative newcomers who held their place with a decent first year showing the previous season.

Not so this time and unlike Reno, the team from the Hermitage area could not lift itself from a difficult, yet somewhat hopeful position as it had made significant strides in closing the gap towards the end of the third round.

Additional games

With the five additional games among the bottom six, Reno gave a better account, even as they reaped quite a bit of fortune at the expense of Seba.

Ironic, it is, that the tabled turned thus on the Montegonians - giant and true western pioneers insofar as league traditions are concerned.

However, they imploded amid disunity akin to a corner league outfit and handed Reno three points and as many goals after failing to honour their fourth-round fixture at St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS).

If it appeared nightmarish at the time, that matter is now a most haunting reality, which has left St James without, and uncertain of having, a Premier League representative next season. That is, of course, unless the situation changes in the upcoming Confederation play-offs.

Prior to the fixture at STETHS, it was Seba United which looked likely to retain their spot, but like fighting kittens, they shredded their cushion and are now feeling the hard effects with Reno, despite losing their final game 1-0 at St Georges, finishing one point ahead.

Mechanical problems to their team bus were the reasons first forwarded for Seba's inability to show for the Reno contest, but it soon emerged that internal problems were at the heart of the no-show with a salary dispute now proving most costly in its affairs.

In the final analysis, it left the club without its senior players at the most critical time, the battle-weary soldiers whose experience could have proved invaluable at the greatest hour of need. It does not say much for a club that has given this country some truly great players and performances.

When they beat Boys' Town in the 1987-88 final, Seba United became the first rural team to win the National Premier League.

Paul 'Tegat' Davis ... an outstanding player from the Seba team which won the Premier League in 1988. - file

The team included players like Paul 'Tegat' Davis, Alton 'Noah' Sterling, Allan Latty, a young Hector Wright, Gerald 'Hero' Scott, Anthony 'Terminator' Dennis, and the now deceased Stephen 'Zabowl' Thompson, all of whom went on to represent this country with distinction.

Since, it has not only produced a host of other national representatives at different levels, but won the Premier League thereafter.

Seba United should not have to reflect now on whether they would have kept their place in the National Premier League had they played the Reno match. Whatever the problems, the rueful situation should have been resolved.

Such a scenario involving a club so steeped in local football traditions only serves to highlight the vast amount of work needed to develop the football infrastructure in this ongoing climate that aspires towards professionalism, as this Seba breakdown is reminiscent of the problems faced by many clubs in the period between the late 1980s and mid-'90s when informal payment methods were on the increase for footballers, largely at the Premier League level.

Exceed income

Even today, when the overheads far exceed income, Premier League clubs are faced with similar crises, but at the end of the day, they honour the fixture.

Seba, now back in the Super League, have much on which to reflect. The game is not only played or won on the field and it must implement methods to strengthen its inner sanctum that prohibit the type of implosion, which extends the growth of olive branches already provided with a new fourth-round format of play among the weakest.

It only presents opportunities to others like Reno and cuts off their very own existence in the National Premier League.