Grand final deep dive: The best Kyabram District League deciders

Today it is the Kyabram District League’s turn, as the team here at The News sports desk has gone back and had a look at some of the best grand finals since the turn of the century.

Whether it is a stunning upset to ruin a perfect season, high-scoring thriller that kept the crowd on the edge of their seat or traditional low-scoring bruise fest - the KDFL has well and truly delivered on grand final day in recent years, with these classic contests just some examples of why we love local footy so much.

1. Undera ruins perfect Nagambie season with incredible 2009 upset

Going through the 2009 KDFL home and away season undefeated, you would have been hard pressed to find anybody that believed Nagambie would not break its 10-year premiership drought.

However, football is a funny game, especially in the month of September, and in 2009 the boys from Undera would play the role of David against a Goliath that had largely dominated all of its competition heading into grand final day.

Finishing with a percentage of 277.61 after the 18 round home and away season, the Lakers entered the finals series full of confidence - with the only slight blemish on their record being a draw with Undera in round six.

The Lions had enjoyed an excellent season of their own without quite capturing the headlines of the ruthless Nagambie side, finishing a clear second on the ladder with an impressive record of 15-2-1.

However, when it came to the first final they would hit a stumbling block, falling to Lancaster by 21 points forcing them into a sudden-death semi-final against Stanhope.

From there the Lions would hit their straps, firstly eliminating reigning back-to-back premiers Stanhope in a high-scoring 13-point win - before exacting revenge over the Wombats with a 10-point win in the preliminary final.

The road to the big dance for the minor premier Lakers was much simpler, as they easily accounted for Lancaster with a 48-point win in the second semi final.

Despite heading into the game as heavy outsider, coach Terry Mahoney was optimistic about his side's chances in the build up - with its draw earlier in the year a blueprint for how they could win the game.

“Nagambie is entitled to be favourites because they haven’t lost a game all year,” he said.

“However, I think our side has been highly successful and we are group that has developed a lot this year.”

With the importance of a fast start firmly on the Lions mind, the game could not have started any better for underdogs as Spiro Vourgaslis kicked a running goal in the first 30 seconds.

This would be a sign of things to come in the first term as Undera took the Lakers completely by surprise and played an almost kamikaze style of football that saw them boot six opening-quarter goals to take immediate control of the game with an 18-point lead at the first change.

Full of energy after that blistering opening stanza, the lions would continue their opening-half dominance with spearhead Sam La Porta proving to be a menace inside forward 50.

As all champion sides do though the Lakers responded in the shadows of half-time, matching the Lions’ output for goals in the second term to go into the rooms with a 21-point deficit.

With their season slowly slipping away Nagambie would show some signs of the side that went through the season undefeated as the second half began.

However, wayward kicking would prove a thorn in the Lakers’ side as they could not take full advantage of their general play dominance - with a return of 4.8 for the term only trimming the margin to nine at the final change.

Playing with confidence, many would have had the Lakers running away with it in the last as they continued their attacking dominance.

But once again they could not make it count in front of the sticks, as key misses to Danny Haysom and Ben Hutton opened the door for the Lions on the counter attack - with the main man La Porta making them pay with a roving goal to get the margin out beyond two kicks.

The boys from Nagambie would continue to battle on though with a pair Mick Shiels stoppage goals trimming the margin back to single digits and bringing the Lakers crowd back to life.

But in the end it was to be the Lions’ day, with an eighth goal for La Porta sealing a famous upset victory and Undera’s first premiership since 1997.

Classy half forward Vourgaslis would be awarded the VCFL medal as best afield following a dominant four-goal performance and was filled with emotion post game.

“Before the game I was told to work, work, work - I started at half forward and the ball just fell in my hands,” he said.

“This is a dream come true, it’s my first grand final in football, it means a lot to me and the club.”

The seniors’ victory capped off a memorable day for the club after the reserves easily accounted for Tallygaroopna in the curtain raiser.

Final Score

Undera 6.2 9.8 12.10 16.13 (109)

Nagambie 3.2 6.5 10.13 13.14 (92)

VCFL Medal: Spiro Vourgaslis

Goals - Undera: S LaPorta 8, S Vourgaslis 4, B Stoertebecker 2, P Mahoney, R Luvara

Nagambie: B Morris 3, B Hutton 2, P Rattray 2, J Lloyd 2, M Shiels 2, L Fox , S Paulke

Best - Undera: S Vourgaslis, B Stoertebecker, D Breen, S LaPorta, D Godsmark, R Luvara

Nagambie: B Hutton, A Haysom, Q Comi, L Fox, B Le Cerf, B Vercoe

2. Nagambie comes from behind to down Avenel in high-scoring thriller

When it comes to Kyabram District Football there is no side more successful than Nagambie, with the Lakers taking out 12 premierships in their 56-year history in the league.

When it comes to which success was the sweetest, however, it is hard to go past the Lakers’ triumph of 2016, as they downed an Avenel team that had dropped just two games prior to the big dance in what was a high-scoring epic.

After finishing on top of the ladder and being kicked out of the finals in straight sets in 2015, Nagambie came into the new season with a point to prove as it looked to rectify its September shortcomings.

Once again producing a dominant home-and-away season, the battle for the minor premiership would come down to a round-20 battle with Avenel - with the Swans prevailing in a tight contest at the Avenel Recreation Reserve to hand the Lakers their second loss of the season.

This would set up another meeting between the ladder leaders in the second semi final, where the Lakers would completely stun Avenel with their ferocity from the first bounce and romp their way to a 60-point win - punching a ticket to the grand final in the process.

The Swans would book their ticket to the big dance the following week, rebounding hard with a comfortable 37-point win against Stanhope in the preliminary final.

Facing each other for the third time in the space of five weeks, it is safe to say the Lakers and Swans were very well acquainted come grand final day - with most pundits feeling Nagambie’s finals experience would see them over the line in a tight encounter.

Avenel playing coach Don Stirling said he looked to take a calm approach into the match, following what happened when the two sides met a fortnight earlier.

“We were maybe a little bit overexcited leading into that game and we played it out in our heads too much a bit before we ran out, so we’ll go in a lot calmer and composed this time,” he said.

“We know Nagambie is a team with lots of finals experience and that’s always going to work in their favour, but anything can happen once the game starts and we’ll go into the game with confidence.”

It was a tight start to proceedings at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve, as the two sides began by trading goals in the early passages to have the game tied up at the halfway point of the first term.

It would then be the Lakers that began to pull away, with back-to-back goals by Brett Connors gifting his side a crucial break that would extend to a comfortable 15 points at the first change.

This is when the game would be flipped on its head.

After taking all the momentum into quarter time it was as if the side’s swapped jumpers to begin the the second term as the Swans quickly got the game on their terms and proceeded to pile an avalanche of goals on a shell-shocked Nagambie.

Inspired by Stirling and key forward Cael McCarthy, everything Avenel touched turned to gold as they piled on seven goals to flip that 15-point deficit into a sizeable 24-point lead at half- time.

Heading into the rooms, Nagambie would be leaning on their grand final experiences of two years earlier - where a fired-up Merrigum team jumped the Lakers to lead by an astounding 46 points at quarter time, before they managed to regroup and flip the script to run away 35-point winners.

An early goal to Nick Goodwin would see the Avenel lead extend to 30 points in the early stages of the third, which would end up being a major turning point for the Lakers, who once again showed themselves to be comeback kings.

Kicking with a slight breeze behind them, it would be Nagambie’s turn to pile on the majors as Anthony Haysom inspired his team to kick six of the next seven goals - with a 50m bomb from the on-baller in the shadows of three-quarter time handing his side an eight-point lead and all the momentum heading into the last.

With the game well and truly on the line, Nagambie showed why it had been the most successful side of this era - piling on four quick goals to put the famous victory well beyond doubt.

Claiming the VCFL medal as best on ground, Haysom said this was one of the club’s greatest triumphs.

“This is the second one now and I think this is the biggest day the club has ever had, so beating them (Avenel), it doesn’t get any better,” he said.

“We were pretty flat at half-time, but we thought four goals is doable, we just knew we had to work hard because they’re a good side, put the pressure on them when they had it and cause some errors.”

Final Score

Nagambie 5.4 6.6 13.10 17.16 (118)

Avenel 3.1 10.6 12.8 15.10 (100)

VCFL Medal: Anthony Haysom

Goals - Nagambie: H Taylor-Lloyd 4, D Lowry 3, D Haysom 2, B Connors 2, A Haysom 2, T Muir, J Gleeson, K Winter-Irving, N Fothergill

Avenel: C McCarthy 5, N Goodwin 2, A Green 2, K Duncan 2, M McKenzie, N Thomas, D Stirling, J Mabon

Best - Nagambie: A Haysom, S Barber, J Gleeson, M Shiels, R Misiti, B Biggs

Avenel: C McCarthy, T Dundon, P Arandt, M Berry, M McKenzie, A Green

3. Ardmona inflicts heartbreaking defeat on Stanhope in 2006 nail-biter

In more recent times the Ardmona Football Netball club has been synonymous with losing, with their 2121-day losing streak extending from 2015 to earlier this year signifying a club on the brink of extinction.

Back in the mid-2000s, however, the Bush Cats were a force in the Kyabram District Football League winning premierships in 2002 and 2006, while also making it to the grand final in 2007 and 2008.

With a host of highlights to choose during that period, there is no doubt the triumph of 2006 stands out for fans of Ardmona as it defied the odds on grand final day to edge out minor premiers Stanhope in an enthralling game of football.

The road to the big dance for Ardmona began with a dominant 39-point win over Lancaster in the qualifying final, setting up a showdown with the ladder-leading lions in the second semi.

Taking it up to the Lions for the best part of three and a half quarters, a late spurt of Stanhope goals would force the Bush Cats into a preliminary final rematch with Lancaster where they would prevail in a one-point thriller to reach the big dance.

Taking over the reins at Ardmona at the beginning of the 2006 season following a storied career with Stanhope, coach Brian Simpkin said there would be no love lost for his old teammates come game time.

“They are your mates off the park for life, but when you run onto that ground you’re mortal enemies,” he said.

“I’ll be mates with them forever, but that won’t mean a thing tomorrow - all I’m interested in is winning.”

Needing a fast start, Ardmona would come out of the blocks firing with some scintillating attacking play seeing them kick five first-quarter goals to Stanhope’s two to open up a comfortable 20-point lead.

This lead would extend out to 32 by the midway point of the second term, with the Bush Cat faithful beginning to believe that the 2006 flag was about to make its way to the Ardmona Recreation Reserve.

But on the back of spearhead Shaun Pearce, the Lions would roar back to life in the lead-up to half-time - as five goals from the big full-forward single handily brought his side back into the game with the margin sitting at five points at the main change.

In a game filled with momentum shifts, the Bush Cats would once again get on top in the early stages of the third term and opened up a 16-point lead to put themselves in the box seat.

But the Lions would once produce yet another late-quarter burst, with goals to Jarrad Mason and David Hansford giving them a slender four-point lead at three-quarter time.

With 30 minutes separating the two teams from premiership glory, the Lions were spurred by memories of a one-point defeat on grand final day just 12 months earlier as the sides exchanged majors in the early stages.

Spearhead Perry Meka began to make his presence felt for Ardmona kicking two crucial majors, but Pearce would answer with two of his own to ensure the Lions had the lead heading into time on.

As the cup looked set to make its way to Stanhope, an inspirational run and goal from Bush Cat midfielder Greg Saunders would put his side in front at the 27-minute mark.

With just seconds remaining, the Lions would muster one last attacking push to try and steal the victory - but the defence of Ardmona would stand tall one last time to give them a famous two-point win.

Following the game, Simpkin said he could not have been prouder of the fight his team showed throughout the contest.

“Our boys have never given in all year,” he said.

“We can be down by six or seven goals, but the boys just keep coming, it’s just great.

“I just said to the boys at three-quarter time, ‘a bit more guts, a bit more determination’ and told them ‘let’s give it our best shot as there’s no tomorrow’.”

Final Score

Ardmona 5.4 9.6 11.8 15.9 (99)

Stanhope 2.2 8.7 11.12 14.13 (97)

VCFL Medal: Brad Lowe (Ardmona)

Goals - Ardmona: P Meka 5, J Deangelis 3, R Young 2, M Rachele 2, G Saunder, B Simpkin, C Brereton

Stanhope: S Pearce 6, J Mason 3, D Hansford 2, M Trist, C Emmett, L Haw

Best - Ardmona: B Lowe, M Ferrari, L O’Brien, C Moon, G Saunders, C Brereton

Stanhope: L Haw, M Trist, A Auld, B Clymo, J Weeks, R Sheers