1991
Judo champions Alwyn and Damien Holt were named the May winners of the Free Press Sportstar of the Year award.
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The Tongala siblings, both members of a Bendigo club, won state titles and set an early tone for younger brother Stewart, a bronze medallist at the recent North Central Victorian Judo Championships
• A Kyabram captain and coach partnership guided Golburn Campaspe’s under-14 football team to a lightning premiership title at Swan Hill.
Brad Sheperd was captain and Garry O’Neill coach of the team, with other Kyabram players including Lou Corso, Brett Ward and Matthew Haig in the team.
• Gino D’Angelo had 51 goals for Girgarre after 12 games of the 1991 Kyabram District League season and his team was unbeaten on top of the ladder.
D’Angelo was still 16 goals behind competition pace-setter Darren Turner, who had kicked 67 goals for second-ranked Tallygaroopna.
Girgarre had just beaten Tally by 15 points to remain undefeated, with Brian Watson and Gus Wallis the team’s best players. Brendan Flanagan kicked three goals in the win.
Merrigum was third on the ladder after another best-on-ground effort from Shane Andrews, while Lancaster was just outside the top five teams despite beating lowly Ardmona by 89 points.
The usual suspects, Steve Sharp and Jon Varcoe, along with Alan Gascoyne, were the three best Wombats.
• Kyabram sat fifth on the ladder after 13 rounds, having lost to premiership favourite and ladder-leader Seymour by 26 points.
Tongala was on a run, Barry Nexhip and Brendan Parker both kicking five goals and Mick Souter four in a 90-point win against seventh-ranked Euroa.
Roger Robilliard and Russ Byrnes were other good players for the fourth-ranked Blues.
• Eleven years after winning the Goulburn Valley League’s Pattison Medal for the best player in the under-18 competition, Kyabram’s Ross Normington received his medal.
Now a policeman in Kyabram and an umpire with the Goulburn Valley association, Normington tied with Echuca’s Steve Waters and Lemnos’ Peter Goggin on 25 votes.
The league had recently decided to abandon countback conditions and retrospectively award the medals.
• Kyabram’s championship state league team had a 61-17 victory against Bayside and sat fourth with three rounds remaining in the home-and-away season.
Coach Jenny Hawker said goaler Di Hanslow was hitting top form, with support from Fiona McCarron, Annie Austin, Lisa Cullum and Kate Palmer.
1981
Vic Castles kicked six goals for Lancaster in its 20-point win against Undera, while Chris Salter kicked three and Greg Pryde was best-on-ground.
Forty-two goals were kicked in the Merrigum and Nagambie game, top of the ladder Merrigum kicking 24 of those as Peter Law (nine goals) and Brad Nilbert (seven) dominated in attack.
Alex Dennis was best-on-ground for the Bulldogs. After 13 rounds, Merrigum had not lost a game at either senior or reserve grade level.
• Wayne Deledio was named Bomber of the month, but the Bombers sat third from the bottom on the ladder.
Deledio had kicked six of his team’s eight goals, the others coming from David Long and Rob Shellie. Des Campbell kicked four goals for United, which sat second on the ladder.
Laurie Casey and Mick Ryan were other good Bombers players.
After 13 rounds, Mick Souter from Tongala had kicked 51 goals, but was third on the goal-kicking tslly behind Rochester’s Peter Fuller (53) and Shepparton’s Rudd.
• Three men became the first life members of Kyabram Trotting Club at the annual meeting of the organisation.
Ian Purdey, the foundation treasurer of the club, its first president Bill Shellie and inaugural secretary Gus Underwood all received acknowledgement.
Re-elected club president Karl Mansfield made the three life membership announcements.
Mr Purdey was re-elected for his 13th successive year as treasurer, while Mr Underwood took on a 12th term and John Calley was installed as assistant secretary-treasurer.
• Legendary Girgarre footballer Laurie Doolan, 44, played his 500th game of football.
He played one season with Stanhope in the GVL in 1956 and the only other time he was away from Girgarre was a few games for Rochester in the Bendigo league in 1957.
At 16, in 1953, he was the youngest ever McNamara medallist. His father Jack and brothers Kevin, Ray, Peter and John all played with Girgarre.
He was planning to play super rules for Kyabram the following season.
1971
Hockey star Marilyn Hatch was named in the Victorian Junior Hockey under-18 team to compete in the national championships at Adelaide.
The 17-year-old is a member of Kyabram’s A-grade team in the Shepparton association and is one of six country girls in the team.
• Two of Merrigum’s potential match winners were shut out of the match with Lancaster, with Graham Campbell and Wayne Leppard stopped by the defensive work of Maurie Boswell and Robert Reid.
Graham Gorman was another Lancaster star, while only Merrigum’s John Lamond and Jeff Newham deserved recognition.
Lancaster had key players in Keith Whitford and Noel Reddrop, who won the battle with his brother and Merrigum coach Aub, and finished with six goals.
• Controversial Euroa coach Dick O’Bree was given a reprieve when his suspension was lifted by the GVL tribunal, a stormy debate resulting in a 5-4 vote in favour of his return to the playing arena.
• Paul Rowe was among the GVL’s best players in its 12-goal loss to Ovens and Murray.
Stuart Florence kicked two goals, as did Euroa’s Mick Peel. Other names to feature were Des Campbell, Roland Crosby and the Gibbs brothers (Stanhope).
• Dawes Rd player Michael Lewry won the inaugural Wes Manton medal for the best-and-fairest in the under-13 division of Kyabram District Football Association.
He won on a countback from Tongala’s Mick Souter and Bill Hanslow was third. Haslem St star Mick Fry was fourth.
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