Plays of the Past

Mr Dow won the ballot from Alan Bowers. Two new vice-presidents were also elected to the club.

Publican new boss

Bruce Elborough won the battle of the publicans for the presidency of Tongala Football Club at its annual meeting.

The Falcon Hotel licensee won the presidency from Tongala licensee Bill Davison in a secret ballot. Mr Davison had been president of the club for the previous two years.

They were the only nominations for the role.

Mr Elborough was the former publican at Merrigum who played his football for Kaniva in the Western Victorian league.

New secretary at Tongala was Pat Church, replacing Merv Wilde, at a meeting attended by 70 people. Dave Newman was elected senior vice-president and Kevin Primmer re-was elected junior vice-president.

– Former Shepparton United and Melbourne star Des Campbell had just accepted the coaching position at Tongala.

Campbell was to be employed jointly as a barman for the Tongala and Falcon hotels, joining Tongala after the team finished the 1977 season without a win.

Birdman top sportsman

Tongala dairy farmer Bernie Weardon was named Kyabram Apex Club’s October sportstar for his success as a pigeon flyer with Kyabram Homing Club.

The former Royal Navy soldier recalled an incident in the English Channel when he retrieved a French Resistance homing pigeon from the mast of a ship, which was his first experience with the birds.

He had been a member of the Kyabram club since 1975 and after not winning a race in 1976 had won four successive races in the 1977 season.

Teenager endurance motorcycle rider Kelvin Bacon, hockey player Merilyn Hatch and Kyabram footballer Greg Kirkman had been other recent nominations.

1987

Matthew’s state record

Matthew Hyland set a new record for 12-year-old boys at the Victorian Primary School Sports in high jump, leaping 1.55 metres to break the record of Tatura Primary School student Dustin Fletcher (who would go on to play more than 400 AFL games for Essendon).

He completed the leap at Princess Park, the Year 6 student among several regional students to win medals at the carnival.

GV Schoolboy cricketers

Brendan Sleeth and Max McKenzie were selected in the Goulburn Valley schoolboys cricket team to compete in the state schools carnival.

McKenzie, from Kyabam High School, and Sleeth, from St Augustine’s College, are both members of the Kyabram club.

Stars of the round

Merrigum batsman Troy McCormick plundered Lancaster’s bowlers for an even 100 in a great battle with fast bowler Rob Mansfield.

McCormick and Andy Engwerda shared in a 75-run stand as the former struck 14 boundaries in his innings.

Mansfield recovered to finish with 5-45.

Russell Morgan produced his best innings of the season for Kyabram with 87, including 10 boundaries, sharing a 68-run opening stand with Trevor Coulstock.

Fire Brigade fast bowler Len Cooper finished with 5-52 to be the pick of the bowlers.

Shanahan new coach

Twenty eight-year-old Mick Shanahan took over the senior coaching role at Tongala from Daryl Reid after the team had slipped to the bottom of the GVL ladder in 1987 following recent back-to-back premierships.

An exodus of players at the end of 1986 made it extremely hard for Reid and Shanahan had coached the under-18 team deep into the finals.

Taffy Jordan had just been elected to the presidency, with Leo Davis and Leo Connally his vice-presidents. John Bentley was secretary of the club.

In other sporting news, 44-year-old Bernie McCarthy had put his hand up to coach Rushworth in a shock comeback from the former Seymour and North Melbourne star.

1997

Cooma’s cricket centenary

Stanhope’s Harry Hitchcock produced a rare piece of memorabilia in the lead-up to the Cooma Cricket Club centenary.

He found a medal struck when the club played its first official game, his mother Fanny taking possession of it from former Cooma farmer Jack McCague.

Jack had found it in a paddock on his property 30 years earlier and it was presented to Harry’s grandfather George Hiscock for finishing second in the batting average of the 1897-98 season.

– More than 200 people attended the centenary function where stalwarts Peter Watson, Tony Kilmartin and Russell Barrett were all made life members.

Ron Pell was given the honour of launching the club’s centenary book, while the cake was cut by John and Jane Robertson.

State champions

Kyabram Secondary College’s Year 9-10 team won the state championship, coached to victory by Ivan Ryall against Melbourne Secondary College.

It was Kyabram’s ninth successive win in the knockout statewide competition, with captain David Newman, Trent Finn and Kayne Pettifer stars with the bat.

Newman made more than 400 runs in the tournament, averaging 60, while Marcus Lancaster took 5-11 from 5.5 overs to be the best of the bowlers.

Blake Campbell, Keedan Rotterveel and Paul Sefton-Rowston also did their bit to help the team win the match.

Other members of the team were Marcus Lancaster, David James, Barry McLeod, Nick Hubble, Peter Hunter and Steve Cail.

2007

New Valley View chief

John Burrows was named the new president of Kyabram Valley View Golf Club, taking over from Alan Hausler.

Shane Templar was his vice-president, Doug Kajewski captain, Marie Watt treasurer and Craig Larcombe secretary.

After being away for several years, when he worked in Sydney as regional general manager of Commonwealth Bank, Mr Burrows returned to Kyabram where he had been manager of the branch from 1988-94.

Ogden state selection

Liam Ogden gained selection in the Victorian under-16 football squad, having been a star with Kyabram in the Shepparton competition and also a standout for the Goulburn Murray schoolboys team.

The left-footer was named the league’s best player at a recent tournament and also the Kyabram best-and-fairest.

He was also the league’s most valuable player and player of the finals, joining the Murray Bushrangers’ under-16 squad as a result of his outstanding season.

His father, Mark, was also coach of Kyabram’s under-18 team.