Pooraka Football Club fails in bid to overturn Kye Vandermoer’s ban ahead of Adelaide Footy League division five grand final

A SUBURBAN football club has failed in its 11th-hour bid to overturn a five-week ban on one of its players and clear him to take the field in tomorrow’s grand final.

POORAKA has failed in its 11th-hour bid to overturn a five-week ban on one of its players and clear him to take the field in tomorrow’s amateur football grand final against Glenunga at St Marys.

The Bulls lodged an appeal last week to challenge the Adelaide Footy League’s independent tribunal’s decision to slap Kye Vandermoer with a five-week suspension for striking a Lockleys opponent in the Bulls’ 17-point division five semi-final win at Lockleys Oval on August 26.

The league’s appeals committee heard the case yesterday and reduced the penalty to three weeks after downgrading Vandermoer’s charge from intentional striking to reckless striking.

Vandermoer has already served one week of his ban after missing the club’s preliminary final win over Christian Brothers College Old Collegians last week – before the appeal was heard.

Adelaide Footy League chief executive John Kernahan said the appeal committee’s findings resulted in Vandermoer’s career tally of suspensions being reduced from 11 to nine.

Pooraka football operations manager Paul Dittmar said the club had to accept Vandermoer’s suspension and prepare for Glenunga.

“We did our best for Kye and getting it downgraded was probably the best outcome we could have got,” Dittmar said.

“We got a fair hearing and we have to cop it on the chin.

“It’s disappointing for Kye but we are in a grand final, we’ve come from fifth spot and I’d much rather concentrate on that at the moment.”

The division five grand final starts at St Mary’s Park at 2.30pm.