30th Anniversary Reunions for the ‘95 Senior & U/19 Premiership Teams: Sat May 31st
Thirty years on and everyone wearing the Blue & Gold guernsey in the Seniors’ photo below is still alive and kicking!
We have lost a few others along the way, including Geoff Wright, John Martin, Simon Massey, Phil Kaufman, “Cob” Wild and Rudi, the goal umpire, but they will be with us in spirit when we get together to catch up and tell tall tales about what ended up being an incredibly successful season.
After the dramatic cross from the Southern F. L. over the summer break, we found ourselves in the uncharted waters of the V.A.F.A. and by September the Seniors, Reserves and our inaugural U/19 team were facing up to Finals action. The Ressies dropped out after a narrow loss in the 1st Semi, but the Seniors and ‘19s pushed through to the Grand Final with the Seniors surviving a narrow call in the 2nd Semi, after trailing at the 30 min mark, before a bit of magic from Tim Holt saw his winning snap-shot cross the goal line as the siren blew.
This win proved crucial to the Seniors as injuries would have made it a tough assignment to get through the Prelim and the extra week’s rest enabled the side to regroup and take on the Pirates, with Dave Wright the sole casualty from the semi after a serious patella injury. The Grand Final at Mordialloc before a big crowd contained its dramatic moments with devastating knee injuries to Brook King and Jimmy Whitla but a team which contained six eventual Club Champions and a young Saints listed player, Richard Maloney, was able to comfortably take down the Pirates who had to play three finals in a row.
So, in the Club’s first year in the VAFA, it was Garry Nicholson & Andy Easton who were able to hold up the Sharks inaugural VAFA Premiership Cup a week before the Under 19s, coached by Peter ‘Rabs’ McBrearty, made it a double when they knocked off a powerful St Kevins side with their strong come-from-behind win. The Club’s Grand Final Award went to CHB Paul Sherman while Sean ‘Rooster’ Hanrahan took out the Senior B & F Award and the Best Player in the Finals Series Trophy after two strong games at CHF, including five goals in the Grand Final.
We hope that you can all join us for this reunion at the club which will be for both teams and enable a catchup with old friends and teammates. It is open to all family, friends and supporters who were there on the day, and you can book your seat by clicking on the QR Code in the flyer above or on the link below.
Just book your ticket/tickets on any of the ten tables listed on the platform and we will sort out the seating arrangements before the day. Festivities start with the bar opening at 11.30am and will feature the Ressies & Seniors playing Marcellin to hold their spot in the four.
Please direct any queries to Ron Nicho on 0416 133655 or to ronnicho@bigpond.com
