Justin Westhoff has been spared the inglorious honour of being reported in his first AFL game after the charge was withdrawn by the AFL’s match review panel on Monday.

Westhoff, making his debut on Sunday, was reported by umpire Kieron Nicholls for charging Clinton Young during the fourth quarter of clash against the Hawks.

But on Monday the match review panel made this assessment of this incident...

The panel assessed the match day report laid against Port Adelaide's Justin Westhoff, who was reported for charging Hawthorn's Clinton Young during Sunday's game at AAMI Stadium. It was the view of the panel that Westhoff was running in from the side to a marking contest. He had his eyes on the ball at all times until a split-second before contact was made. At that moment, when the player realised contact was unavoidable, Westhoff turned to protect himself. The incident was not deemed as reportable and no further action taken.

The news removes the small black spot from what was a great debut by the 199cm forward. Westhoff kicked three goals, including the first of the game. He kicked goals with his first two kicks in the AFL.