Broadmeadow Magic came away from their appeal of a five-game suspension against Bailey Wells without an answer on Tuesday night.
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Wells was sent off in the 2-0 NPL loss to Charlestown on April 28 at Lisle Carr Oval after putting both hands into the back of the referee while trying to get past him to follow the play.
Northern NSW Football hit Wells with an unsporting conduct charge - the lightest in the offences against match official regulations - which carries a four-match suspension plus the automatic one-game ban for the send-off.
Broadmeadow appealed the suspension, arguing that the contact was accidental.
The appeal was heard on Tuesday night but the NNSWF disciplinary panel reserved their decision.
Broadmeadow president Andrew Bozinovski said the panel had extra disciplinary matters to deliberate on after their hearing and the club hoped to have a decision in writing in the coming days.
Wells has already served one game of his suspension and Magic hope to have him available for Friday night's round 11 home match against New Lambton.
** Charlestown knocked Maitland out of the Australia Cup on Tuesday night with a 2-0 win at Cooks Square Park.
Jarryd Sutherland scored with a free kick in the 13th minute and Rene Ferguson knocked in a header off a corner in the 67th to give Azzurri victory in the round five NNSW preliminary round game.
The teams were to play at the ground in the NPL last Saturday but the match was postponed after the ground was closed by Maitland City Council.
Despite heavy rain on Monday, the ground was re-opened on Tuesday and the cup game went ahead.
The win gives Charlestown a spot in the last eight of the knockout's regional stage. Two sides from the region will qualify for the nationwide round of 32.
* Good news for injured striker Archie Finn means Newcastle Olympic are unlikely to add to their squad, beyond a potential deal with Jets veteran Jason Hoffman, in next week's NPL window for roster changes
Finn broke his leg late in the 2-1 win over New Lambton on April 28 and it was feared he may miss the rest of the year if he required surgery.
The club hope to have Hoffman on board, most likely to play after his Jets contract ends on June 30, but Olympic coach Paul DeVitis said that would be the only potential change in the window after a positive report on Finn's injury.
"Our squad is quite big so we aren't really looking," DeVitis said.
"Archie doesn't have to get surgery, which is really good.
"He will miss only another four to six weeks, so we don't really have to look to market. If he was going to miss the season, that may have been different."
DeVitis hopes to have defender Jacob Pepper (calf tears) back in two to three weeks.
** Referee Charlie O'Bryan was the major casualty out of the weekend's limited NPL men's action after going down with a serious leg injury at Fearnley Dawes Field.
O'Bryan broke his fibula and dislocated his ankle in the first half of the Cooks Hill versus Edgeworth top-grade game on Saturday after tripping when trying to move around an Eagles player.
Play was halted while he received attention, before he was helped from the field. A linesman took over central duties and the fourth official ran the line.
O'Bryan had surgery on Monday to insert two rods and a plate to stabilise the damaged bones.
Northern NSW Football said the operation went well and O'Bryan wanted to pass on his deepest appreciation to everyone who helped him on the day, including players, coaches, team physiotherapists, club personnel, his match official team and NNSWF representative Liam Bentley.
