Shepp News |
The striking charge against Kyabram’s Nick Coulstock from Saturday night’s Goulburn Valley Football League match against Rochester has been thrown out.
Coulstock was reported in the opening quarter of the Bombers’ 17-point loss to the Tigers for striking Rochester’s Daniel Anderson.
But the charge was dropped yesterday morning after video footage submitted to the league by Kyabram showed it was not Coulstock who struck a Rochester player.
League general manager Keith Wellman said he was contacted by representatives of Kyabram and Rochester about the alleged incident.
Footage of the match was delivered to the league office on Monday afternoon, which Wellman viewed with Bombers secretary Max McKenzie.
‘‘I clearly, with Max, established that certainly it wasn’t Nick Coulstock that delivered a blow,’’ Wellman said.
‘‘I rang the (reporting) umpire Cruze O’Shea and he came in here at eight o’clock this morning (Tuesday) and viewed the video and withdrew the charge.’’
Wellman said as soon as O’Shea saw the footage, he didn’t have any hesitation saying ‘‘I’ve made a mistake’’.
He said O’Shea was ‘‘deeply apologetic’’ as the error also meant the Bombers were forced to play without Coulstock for 15 minutes.
Kyabram was two men down for a period of the first quarter, with Josh Linton also reported for striking the Tigers’ James Gledhill in a separate incident.
Linton accepted a one-match penalty.
Wellman said the league would not be taking the error further, saying it accepted sometimes the umpires made mistakes.
He said it was good Ballarat-based Coulstock and other club representatives were not required to attend a tribunal hearing tonight.
‘‘I’m just happy it was resolved and .
Kyabram Football Club president John Bacon said the club was happy with the outcome, of which it was confident given the footage.
‘‘It’s a real bummer for the team because he’s probably our prime mover in the middle and he wasn’t there for a quarter,’’ Bacon said.
He said both players wanted to defend their records and Linton was ‘‘livid’’ he had to take a week, but the club could not risk him missing a finals match.
In Coulstock’s case, Bacon said ‘‘someone else did the crime and Nick took the fall for it’’.
‘‘We had nothing against the umpire, he’s got to do it the way he sees it and it’s not as though he’s paid by anyone to do it, he’s impartial,’’ Bacon said.
‘‘But sometimes you get the rub of the green and sometimes you don’t and it wasn’t our day on Saturday.’’
