SATURDAY’S clash between Natimuk United and Laharum at Horsham City Oval was a one-sided affair after half-time – literally.
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Play was due to restart after the long break, but only Laharum had emerged from the clubrooms.
The Mountain Men completed their on-field warm-ups and the siren was sounded multiple times, but the Rams remained in the rooms.
Umpire Cameron Pickering checked with timekeepers box next to the grandstand to confirm Natimuk United had stayed in the rooms too long.
The Rams’ own timekeeper confirmed that the team had run over time.
Pickering said he waited until two minutes after play was due to restart before he and fellow umpire Sebastian Dalgleish told the Laharum players to go to their positions and be ready to start play.
Laharum coach Shannon Argall said his side was taken aback by the decision to start play with only one team on the field.
‘‘They threw the ball up, and I tapped it and we just looked at each other like ‘what do we do?’’’ he said.
‘‘It was up the short end so Todd Heynen grabbed the ball, had a few bounces and walked into an open goal.
‘‘Our initial response was to get as many goals as we could, but after we kicked the first one we thought it wasn’t really fair or sportsmanlike.’’
The ball was thrown up a second time, and Natimuk United still hadn’t emerged from the clubrooms.
Laharum took possession in the centre and the players handballed the ball between themselves until the Rams came streaming from the rooms onto the field.
Laharum waited until the Rams were in position before restarting play.
In the confused dash by Natimuk United players to retake the field, they ended up with too many players on the ground.
‘‘If we were really being serious about it, we probably could have kicked three or four goals in the time before they came back out,’’ Argall said.
‘‘We were joking about it after the game because all 21 players came running back on, so we could’ve stopped the game and asked for a player count.’’
Natimuk United coach Simon Brearley said the siren in the timekeepers box was too faint and was not heard by anyone in the Natimuk United rooms.
The incident became a hot topic on social media, with a post about it on the Wimmera Mail-Times Facebook page seen by nearly 19,000 people and generating more than 50 comments at press time yesterday.
Some comments were critical of the umpires’ decision to restart play, but Pickering said the rules compelled him to take action.
‘‘At the presidents and secretaries meeting this year I specifically checked with the league and chairman Graeme King about what they wanted to do in those instances,’’ he said.
‘‘He was adamant they wanted us to start the game.
‘‘I agree the siren is difficult to hear, but Laharum was out on time and umpires have been instructed not to get the players from the rooms.’’
Pickering said his decision to restart play was not about him trying to be a ‘show pony’.
Natimuk United president Andrew Carine said his side would be more careful about monitoring its half-time breaks from now on.
‘‘We were simply late – we didn’t hear the siren, but at the end of the day it’s our responsibility to be out there,’’ he said.
‘‘We probably should have had someone at the gate telling us we needed to get going.’’
Argall said players were able to see the lighter side of the incident after the game.
‘‘The funniest thing about it was the wave of Natimuk United players running out onto the ground and trying to sort themselves out,’’ he said.
‘‘The whole thing was a bit absurd.’’
