Capital Football investigating pre-season brawl
Date
March 23, 2015 - 9:53PM
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David Polkinghorne


Capital Football will investigate allegations a spectator was involved in a brawl during a pre-season trial and has vowed any punishment handed out will be just as strong as if it were a regular season game.

The friendly between Cooma Tigers and Gungahlin United became anything but when a strong tackle escalated into a brawl at Hawker on Saturday night.

Four players were shown red cards during the trial, two to each team, which ended in a four-all draw.

Capital Football chief executive Heather Reid said the incident would be investigated and the disciplinary panel, which is expected to meet on Wednesday night, would decide any punishment.

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The panel will take into account reports from the referee and both clubs.

"Four red cards and a spectator ran onto the field of play, I don't have the details, but that's what I believe happened," Reid said on Monday.

"Once all the reports come in ... we have a process to go through and let the disciplinary panel determine what happened and what any potential penalties will be.

"But a friendly game is treated in exactly the same way as any other game. We want to make sure the matter is dealt with properly and the appropriate penalties are handed out."

Gungahlin are preparing for their first season in Canberra's national premier league, with their first game a northern derby against Belconnen United at McKellar Park on April 11.

Their recruitment drive lured a raft of Canberra's top talent to the club, creating some angst with their Premier League rivals.

Gungahlin president Ricardo Alberto said Saturday's game was the first time some of those recruits played against their old club and tempers flared.

But Reid wasn't concerned Gungahlin's season would be marred by similar events.

Alberto was also unconcerned it would become a theme of their inaugural year in the Premier League.

He said they would co-operate with Capital Football's investigation and would ensure there wasn't a repeat going forward.

"I'm not worried, I think we'll learn from this and we need to be professional about the games and how we conduct ourselves," Alberto said.

"We have to play within the rules of the game and we want to play in the spirit of being good sports and we'll work very hard on continuing to do that.

"We play with passion and we've got to make sure that passion stays concentrated on the football."