Collingwood’s captain Ben Monteleone has slammed the controversial ‘no draws’ rules that have been introduced to the Series Futsal Victoria premiership this season.
Collingwood was on the receiving end of a drawn defeat having fought back from a 4-1 deficit against Brunswick last Sunday to finish the game 6-all.
Brunswick went on to win the penalty shoot-out (from the 10 metre mark), securing all three competition points, while Collingwood left the field empty handed.
Monteleone says that drawing a match and walking away with no reward is unfair.
“I think the ‘no draws’ rule is absurd and doesn’t make any sense whatsoever,” Monteleone told SeriesFutsal.com.
“In regards to the Brunswick game, it was extremely tough on the players to work so hard to draw the game at 6-all after initially being behind 4-1.
“I believe the ‘no draws’ rule makes the game lose its integrity and makes the sport seem more of a lottery which for the losing side is very heartbreaking and unjust.
“The match was a hard fought contest between two evenly matched teams and a point a piece would have been reasonable and fair for both sides.
“I understand that organisers want to create an entertaining brand of futsal in order to appeal to fans, but there needs to be a fairer system.”
Monteleone feels that the points system needs to be reviewed, suggesting that the winner should receive two points and the loser take home its one point.
“I would suggest that if the games are to be decided on penalties, the winner should get two points and the loser gets one point,” he said.
“This would mean that the loser, at the very least, gets some form of reward for having initially drawn the game.”
After three games, Collingwood sits on one win and will take on the winless Ashburton this Sunday.
Monteleone says that the hard-pressing Ashburton side will present a strong challenge.
“I think the match against Ashburton will be a very tough game,” he said.
“Ashburton is a physical team that defend really well and have players that can score. I think we need to adjust our tactical approach for this game if we are to deal with their physical threat.
“We will also need to be sure that our intensity remains high throughout the match, minimise our mistakes and take our chances in front of goal if we are to beat them.”
CLICK HERE for game day information.
CLICK HERE for the live stream link. Tune in from 3pm ADST on Sunday!