Drunks end match

POLICE were called to Boronia’s Batterham Reserve on Saturday (26 July) in an ugly end to an Eastern Football League (EFL) game.
Police said officers asked spectators to leave the division four match between The Basin and Ferntree Gully because of several drunk crowd members.
The crowd became unruly after Ferntree Gully called an abrupt end to the contest at The Basin’s Miller Road home ground.
“They were very boisterous when we arrived,” Boronia police Sergeant Tony Robertson said.
He said an umpire was attacked after the game.
However, EFL chief executive Rob Sharpe denied the umpire was attacked but said a player ran into the umpire as the teams left the field.
“The player was reported for making contact with an umpire,” he said.
Mr Sharpe said injuries had left Ferntree Gully one man down, with two of their 17 remaining players also injured.
When a scuffle saw another Ferntree Gully player removed from the field under the EFL’s yellow card system, the team decided to end the game and walked off. “They were eight goals down and decided to end the game rather than leaving injured players out there,” Mr Sharpe he said.
Mr Sharpe said the crowd may have not understood what was happening.
“That may have caused a reaction from them,” he said.