Result of Adelaide and Sydney AFL clash will stand despite Ben Keays goal being called a behind

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan says last night’s decision to call a Ben Keays shot a goal a behind was a mistake, and that the call would have been overturned had it been reviewed.

McLachlan fronted a press conference on Sunday morning to say the mistake was due to “human error”, and that had the call been sent to the video review system, the technology would have picked up that it was actually a goal.

The mistake cost Adelaide a late lead in the match, with their eventual loss to Sydney ruling them out of finals contention.

“I want to acknowledge there was a mistake and I take accountability for the mistake on behalf of the league,” McLachlan said.

“I’ve also spoken with the goal umpire, who is dealing with the issue and is taking personal accountability for that mistake.”

McLachlan said the goal umpire would not be adjudicating any more games for the remainder of the AFL season. 

Earlier, Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks said his players had no choice but to rapidly get over the controversial decision in their one-point loss.

With 1:18 left on the clock, Adelaide’s Keays celebrated what he thought was a goal that gave the Crows the lead.

But the goal umpire awarded a behind, signalling the ball hit a post — he didn’t seek a video review and replays later showed the Keays kick was a goal.

“I can’t tell you whether it was a goal or not,” Nicks said.

“What I can tell you, my understanding is that we review those moments, especially at the end of games.

“We’ve just put trust in the process now. So as a footy club and as a coach, that’s all we can do.”

The 13th-placed Crows are now two wins outside the top eight with one game remaining, with an away trip to play struggling West Coast.

“As we have done every week, we lick our wounds and we get ourselves prepared for the next week,” Nicks said.

“This year, our improvement, our development, has been off the charts.

“We’re sitting right up there from an offence point of view as number one in the comp with our scores.

“We’re getting better at our defence if we want to be great, we have got to keep improving.

“The last thing we do now is take our eye off the ball and not finish the season.”

AAP

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