IF you or I turned up an hour-and-a-half late for work, we would rightly expect to be heavily reprimanded.

Furthermore, if you or I were expected to attend a function where we were the main attraction and dozens of people, sometimes hundreds turned out to see us perform, arriving late would be simply unacceptable.

For those reasons - and that of fairness - I find it utterly baffling that the Wessex League doesn't throw the book at tardy teams which turn up for games after the allotted hour.

Not for the first time this season, one of our local clubs was left to count the cost, in more ways than one, because an opposition team failed to arrive ahead of the scheduled kick-off time of 3pm on a Saturday afternoon.

Just as Hamworthy United had suffered at the hands of Romsey Town earlier in the campaign, Verwood Town were defeated heavily after East Cowes Victoria delivered themselves to Potterne Park way behind schedule.

The result was a number of angry spectators leaving and asking for a refund, Verwood having to warm-up on three separate occasions and, probably due in no small part to their interrupted preparations, Adie Arnold's men duly lost the Division One encounter 3-0.

I wholeheartedly applaud the Verwood manager for highlighting the ludicrous loophole in the Wessex League's laws by going public with the problems his team faced at the weekend.

Arnold was furious after his side were made to wait and eventually get the fixture under way 90 minutes late due to the Isle of Wight outfit apparently getting lost on route, as well as suffering a ferry cancellation.

It seems the league, while having a number of silly regulations, has no rule in place to properly punish teams such as East Cowes and Romsey.

Rule number 8.13 in the Wessex League handbook states that the fine for a late kick-off can be between £25 and £100 - with the same figures quoted if a captain fails to wear his armband.

Arnold has called for a proper law to be introduced to ensure this does not happen to other teams in the future and I couldn't agree more.

The Wessex League isn't all bad and - with Poole Town and Hamworthy United proudly flying its flag in the FA Cup - this season promises to be a positive one. And I wouldn't seek to paint a dark picture unnecessarily.

But something seriously needs to be done to avoid any more incidents such as last Saturday's.

I play in a seven-a-side league on a Monday night and, if a team turns up late, they forfeit the match. Simple as that. It makes everything straightforward and means it is a level playing field for all concerned.

If the Wessex League fail to act on this laughable situation, what's to say visiting teams can't deliberately turn up late to gain an advantage over their hosts.

I fear Arnold could be hauled over the coals by the league's hierarchy for his candid and understandably angry comments, given their penchant for obscure and needless rules and regulations.

But the league's time would be better spent concentrating on stopping this embarrassing problem from occurring again in the future.