VTCA takes 11 points off Tullamarine after discovering player points breach from Round 3 match against Spotswood

The Demons selected a player they believed was worth zero points in their Round 3 Senior Division victory over Spotswood, but it was subsequently discovered he should have been allocated two points.

That took Tullamarine’s points total for the match to 41, two more than the VTCA’s 39-point limit.

The Demons’ 89-run victory was overturned at a hearing last Wednesday.

“We didn’t give him any points at all,” Tullamarine president Matthew Pixton said.

“He played Round (2) and we weren’t notified of any breaches. Then he played Round (3) and we found out after we won the game that he was actually a two which put us over the 39 (point) cap.”

Tullamarine sits seventh on the ladder despite winning two of its opening four matches, a record which would have otherwise had it third after Round 4.

Instead, Spotswood is second behind Yarraville Club after it was given 8.6 points from its match against the Demons.

VTCA president Steve McNamara said the decision was unprecedented for the association.

“Our points manager identified there was a player who hadn’t been allocated points,” McNamara said.

“It is very unusual. In the eight years that we have had player points, this is the first club that has had an infraction in regards to that (rule).”

He said 39 had been the player-points limit in the association for the past three years.

“The clubs need to be at 39 points or under for each game,” he said.

Pixton said the Demons were shocked when they were informed of the breach.

“It was only after a couple of phone calls and a couple of emails that we were aware that we’d breached the points cap,” he said.

He said the club would not let the verdict derail its 2016-17 campaign.

“It was certainly not a deliberate act and the league acknowledged it was not a deliberate act from us,” he said.

“The thought process going forward is there’s plenty of rounds to go.

“We won our game on Saturday pretty convincingly.

“That’s certainly the train of thought we are taking forward; training hard and get those points back as quick as we possibly can.”

Spotswood was awarded “the average total of the highest points achieved” in Round 3, as started under VTCA rules regarding matches won on protest or an infringement of competition rules.

HOW THE POINTS WORK

- Points only apply for a club’s First XI team

- Anyone who has played First XI the previous season will have an ‘active rating’ which drops by one point the following season if they remain at the same club.

- A former junior player who returns to their VTCA club is allocated two points.

- The maximum 10 points is attached to players who featured in four or more Premier First XI matches the previous season in Victoria or interstate or is an overseas First-Class cricketer.

See the full points system here.