DEFENDER Kyle Cheney has been charged with a level two striking offence against St Kilda star Brendon Goddard, during the second quarter of Sunday’s loss at Etihad Stadium.

 

Cheney, playing his first match for 2010, can accept a reprimand and 93.75 points towards his future record with an early plea.

 

The club has until 11am Tuesday morning to decide whether to accept the penalty on offer or whether to contest the charge at the tribunal.

 

Cheney’s incident was assessed as intentional conduct (three points), low impact (one point) and body contact (one point). This totaled five activation points, resulting in a level two offence, drawing 125 demerit points and a one-match sanction.

 

But he has no existing good or bad record, so an early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to a reprimand and 93.75 points towards his future record.

 

Cheney has played 13 matches for Melbourne, since debuting in round one against North Melbourne last year.