Former St Kilda star Milne unable to line up for VAFA side Beaumaris

ON the eve of a game, former St Kilda star Stephen Milne has been blocked from playing in the amateurs.

Former St Kilda player Stephen Milne playing with his junior club Hampton Park.

BEAUMARIS had former St Kilda goalsneak Stephen Milne pencilled in to play against Collegians on Saturday but was blocked from doing so by the VAFA on Friday evening.

Milne, who has been playing for Strathfieldsaye in the Bendigo Football League since his AFL retirement in 2013, has been training with the Sharks and was hopeful of making a one-off appearance on Saturday.

However, the league informed club president John Murton that Milne’s professional status at Strathfieldsaye (among others) ruled him ineligible for Amateurs footy.

“I got a fairly short letter just before five o’clock on Friday basically saying they regarded him as a professional because he plays at other places and earns money,” Murton said.

“If there was a gap in his schedule he wanted to pay the club back for letting him train here by playing a one-off game and the Collegians game happened to be the opportunity to do it.

“We got notified on Thursday there was an issue, and there was a committee meeting on Friday (where) they challenged him on the reasons he wanted to play for us. “They intimated they’d be happy for him to play with us next year on a full-time basis, but it is disappointing because a lot of people down here want to watch him play.”

On the field Beaumaris has had a very lean start to the year but took it up to in-form Collegians on Saturday after trailing by 24 points at quarter-time. The Sharks slowly edged their way back into the game and fell short by just five points.

A win and a draw is all the Sharks have salvaged so far this year and they remain second-last on the table ahead of this weekend’s crucial home clash against University Blues.

Daniel Gribbin again provided some spark up forward with three goals, taking his season tally up to 23, while former Saint Raph Clarke was impressive and kicked one of the Sharks’ other five goals for the day.

Meanwhile Old Brighton Grammarians lost its third consecutive game after falling to AJAX by nine points. Old Brighton started the year 4-0 but is still clinging onto a top four spot in Premier B ahead of this weekend’s test against second-placed Old Melburniansat Brighton Beach Oval

Old Brighton went into the sheds 12 points down at half-time against AJAX but clawed its way ahead in the third quarter and led by two points at the final change.

However, with the help of a five-goal haul from Adam Caplan, the Jackas kicked five goals to three in the final term to emerge victorious and lift themselves out of the relegation zone.

Things are tight in the middle of the table and the Tonners, along with St Bedes/Mentone, sit just one game ahead of three Premier B clubs currently at 3-4.

The Hampton Rovers are one of those clubs with three wins to their name and are next in the current pecking order in fifth place on the table. However, there remains plenty of work to do ahead of the second half of the season after they failed to compete against Old Melburnians. losing by 89 points at the Junction Oval. Hampton kicked just six goals on the day with Matthew Robbins booting two. The visitors allowed 19 goals the other way.