UPDATED: With no avenue for an appeal, Netball Australia have apologised after a review into the Sunshine Coast Lightning’s controversial Super Netball loss to the Giants.
Saturday night’s match between the Lightning and the Giants descended into farce, with the teams at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena unclear for 50 minutes of the final score.
The Lightning lost 86-80 in overtime after a score-bench bungle at the end of regulation time.
The Queensland team walked off the court in Sydney when the full-time siren sounded thinking they’d won, with the scoreboard showing they were in front 71-70.
Players and coaches from both sides shook hands and disappointed home fans began filing out of the exit doors.
With Champion Data showing the score as 71-all, the Giants remained on court while the visitors were in their change-room, before a 50-minute investigation revealed the match was actually tied, forcing overtime.
The Lightning warmed up again but were no match for the Giants during the additional two five-minute halves.
Netball Australia (NA) issued a statement on Sunday apologising for the lack of a formal process, which resulted in confusion for both teams.
“We apologise to our fans – both in stadium and at home – and to both teams for the errors that occurred,” new NA boss Stacey West said.
“These errors should not have occurred and caused significant confusion in venue and also for those watching at home.
“There were failures in our systems, processes and communication that have been addressed to ensure this does not happen again.”
The NA review revealed the score was correct at the venue and in the broadcast with one minute 24 seconds remaining, when it was incorrectly adjusted by a bench official.
The discrepancy was identified, with the error eventually discovered by officials at the venue.
NA conceded the competition didn’t have a formal process in place to officially notify umpires and teams a score review was being undertaken – but said it would have one before the next round.
Post-match the Lightning said they were considering a formal protest, with coach Belinda Reynolds saying her team would have played out the last half-minute of regulation time differently had the scoreboard been correct.
Believing they were protecting a one-goal lead, Sunshine Coast – after securing a turnover with 34 seconds remaining – played keepings-off as the clock ticked down.
Had the scoreboard correctly shown the scores were level, they would have instead made an attempt to get off a shot.
“Really disappointed with the way it played out,” Reynolds said.
“We have scenarios for end-of-games and we played it to what we thought would win when the scoreboard showed a one-goal lead.”
There is no mechanism to appeal or replay the match under World Netball or Super Netball rules.
“There is no avenue for appeal of the final score. Further there is no appeal right of any decision within a match,” the ruling states.
EARLIER: Sunshine Coast Lightning haven’t ruled out launching an official protest against their controversial 86-80 overtime Super Netball loss to the Giants, which came after their own apparent win in regulation was annulled due to a scorebench bungle.
The Lightning walked off Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney on Saturday night having thought they’d won in regulation, with the venue scoreboard showing they were in front 71-70 when the fulltime siren sounded.
Players and coaches from both sides shook hands and disappointed fans began filing out the exit doors.
The Giants protested the result, with Champion Data showing the scores as 71-all.
That was determined to be the correct score after a lengthy review of the fourth-quarter footage revealed two errors made by bench officials in their recording of goals.
The match descended into a farce for 50 minutes – during which the Giants players stayed on the court.
The umpires were at one stage thought to have left the building and the Sunshine Coast team were sitting in their changeroom before overtime finally got underway, which was dominated by the hosts.
“It’s something we will review in-depth, then go back and challenge the scenario,” Lightning coach Belinda Reynolds said when asked if she would protest the controversial result or seek a replay.
“We went back to the changeroom and thought we had won the game, then we had to quickly regroup.
“I think it was a hard scenario for the girls.
“We have some injuries, some people returning from ACLs, so they were really concerned about the warm-up time.
“Clearly we didn’t get our heads back into the game quick enough.”
Reynolds’ main beef was the fact her team would have played out the last half-minute of regulation differently had the scoreboard been correct.
Believing they were protecting a one-goal lead, Sunshine Coast, after securing a turnover with 34 seconds remaining, played keepings-off as the clock ticked down.
Had the scoreboard correctly shown the scores were level, they obviously would have instead made an attempt to get off a shot.
“Really disappointed with the way it played out,” Reynolds said.
“We have scenarios for end-of-games and we played it to what we thought would win when the scoreboard showed a one-goal lead.”
Captain Steph Fretwell agreed.
“It’s a very weird emotion to think you’ve won a game, go to your changeroom and then get told you have 10 minutes to warm back up and play extra time,” she said.
“Then to lose the game sucks.
“We would have played the 30 seconds very differently at the end.
“I know we would have played to (take) a shot, and not just play the ball around.”
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