It was a mixed night at the tribunal with Mark McVeigh (striking) and Nathan Lovett-Murray (rough conduct) contesting their three match penalties (two matches with an early plea) from Friday night's clash with Adelaide.
 
The club successfully argued that McVeigh's contact was not 'high', which resulted in his penalty being down-graded to one week.
 
""This is a good result for Mark and for the club and he will now only miss Round 1 of the home-and-away season,"" general manager of football operations, Paul Hamilton, said.
 
Essendon also contested the Lovett-Murray charge but was only able to successfully argue that contact was 'reckless', not 'intentional' which resulted in his penalty being down-graded to two weeks.
 
""We are disappointed because we thought we had a strong case to fight the charges,"" Hamilton said.
 
Hamilton said the club would accept the results.
 
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Charges Laid:

Nathan Lovett-Murray, Essendon, has been charged with a Level Two engaging in rough conduct offence against Bernie Vince, Adelaide, during the second quarter of the First Elimination Final between Essendon and Adelaide, played at AAMI Stadium on Friday September 4, 2009.

In summary, his previous poor record means that his two-game sanction must remain at two games, even with an early plea.

The incident was assessed as intentional conduct (three points), low impact (one point) and body contact (one point). This is a total of five activation points, resulting in a classification of a Level Two offence, drawing 225 demerit points and a two-match sanction. He has an existing bad record of four matches suspended within the last three years, increasing the penalty by 40 per cent to 315 demerit points. He also has 41.25 points carried over from within the last 12 months, increasing the penalty to 356.25 points and a three-match sanction. An early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to 267.19 points and a two-match sanction.

Mark McVeigh, Essendon, has been charged with a Level Three striking offence against Bernie Vince, Adelaide, during the fourth quarter of the First Elimination Final between Essendon and Adelaide, played at AAMI Stadium on Friday September 4, 2009.

In summary, his previous poor record means that his two-game sanction must remain at two games, even with an early plea.

The incident was assessed as intentional conduct (three points), low impact (one point) and high contact (two points). This is a total of six activation points, resulting in a classification of a Level Three offence, drawing 225 demerit points and a two-match sanction. He has an existing bad record of two matches suspended within the last three years, increasing he penalty by 20 per cent to 270 demerit points. He also has 85.63 points carried over from within the last 12 months, increasing the penalty to 355.63 points and a three-match sanction. An early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to 266.72 points and a two-match sanction.