SANFL fines Woodville-West Torrens after under-18 semi-final 19th man drama

The SANFL has handed Woodville-West Torrens an “undisclosed fine” but the club is free to play in the finals after an extra player was on the field during their win against South Adelaide.

Woodville-West Torrens will be free to play in Saturday’s under-18 preliminary final against Sturt after the SANFL found thatthe 19 players it had on the ground in last week’s first semi-final had no impact on the outcome of the match.

The Eagles were sanctioned by the SANFL and hit with an “undisclosed fine’’ for having 19 players on the field against South Adelaide for about 40 seconds at about the 20-minute mark of the final quarter in the match at Thebarton Oval.

The breach was discovered following a goal by the Eagles where a field umpire counted seven players in the forward zone forthe Eagles.

A mandatory player count only allows for six players in each zone which is checked before play restarts after a goal is kicked.

The 19th player then left the field immediately.

A SANFL spokesperson said the league was “satisfied that the breach of regulation was inadvertent and that the player identifiedas the 19th player on field did not have any impact on the outcome of the match’’.

The Eagles won the match by 11 points, 16.7 (103) to 14.8 (92) and that result and margin stands.

The winner of Saturday’s preliminary final will meet Norwood in the grand final .