COUTAS CLEAR DESPITE 19TH MAN BUNGLE

QUEENSCLIFF has kept its score — and by extension its win — after AFL Barwon wrapped up its investigation into the Coutas briefly having an extra player on the field.

The unnamed Coutas player was on the ground at the start of the final quarter after mistakenly believing he was meant to start on the field rather than the bench.

In a statement, AFL Barwon yesterday said the extra player had no influence on the contest and that the initial penalty from umpires — a free kick and 50m penalty — was sufficient.

“We have spoken to the umpires, as well as checked through the correspondence on the umpires’ match day paperwork including scorecards from the game,” AFL Barwon region manager Lee Hartman said.

“It has been established that an extra Queenscliff player was on the field for about 90 seconds in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game.

“It has been confirmed, through the paperwork that no score was recorded during this period and that the umpire correctly awarded a free kick and a 50 metre penalty that resulted in a Portarlington goal.

“We have deemed under AFL Barwon rule 5.5 that this was the correct ruling and the appropriate penalty was awarded at the time.

“As no score was recorded during the infringement, we have ruled that the final score will stand at Queenscliff 18.14.122 — Portarlington 12.9.81.”

Queenscliff, sixth, is fighting for a place in the BFL topfive, only percentage off Ocean Grove and Modewarre, though the gap is significant, with the Coutas needing to bridge a 15.52 per cent gap on the Grubbers alone.

The Coutas were 53 points up at three-quarter-time and were adamant the mistake was accidental.

A change to country footy bylaws means scores are no longer automatically wiped if a side has an extra player, leaving score adjustments at the mercy of an investigation.