Kerang claims piece of Central Murray history with fourth flag

KERANG sealed its place in Central Murray Football League history by becoming the first club to win four consecutive senior premierships.

Central Murray Football League, 2015 premier Kerang. Kerang became the first club in Central Murray league history to win four senior premierships in a row when it defeated Koondrook Barham in the grand final, 16.9 (105) to 8.10 (58). September 26, 2015.

KERANG yesterday sealed its place in Central Murray Football League history by becoming the first club to win four consecutive senior premierships.

Appearing in their eighth consecutive grand final, the Blues overcame a determined Koondrook Barham to win 16.9 (105) to 8.10 (58) at Swan Hill.

Kerang took a 32-point lead into the half-time break, but the Raiders bounced back in the third term.

After an early goal to Kerang’s Luke Cotchett, which would be the Blues’ only major score of term, the Raiders had the next seven shots on goal, for a wasteful 2.5.

The margin was 15 points at three-quarter time, but Koondrook Barham went goalless in the final term as the Blues stormed home.

Luke Livingston, a Kerang junior who played 46 games for Carlton, slotted six goals for the Blues.

Another former AFL player, Troy Davis, earned praise from playing co-coach Troy Coates for his ruck work. Coates also singled out midfielder Ryan Gillingham and young defender Brad Pay who won the AFL Victoria best-on-ground medal.

Coates, who co-coached this year with Travis Matheson, said the side tried not to focus on the historic milestone during the week.

“We tried not to talk about it too much, but we knew it was there,” Coates said.

“We couldn’t ignore it and the boys just found another leg in that last quarter and showed they really wanted that four in a row.”

This was the first Central Murray grand final Koondrook Barham has made since the merger of the two clubs. The team named Troy Rogers its standout for the day, and Daniel Mowat and Jay Laursen both kicked two goals.

● Strathfieldsaye claimed back-to-back Bendigo league premierships by defeating Sandhurst yesterday.

Sandhurst kicked one behind for the first half of the match, and were only defeated by seven points, 8.12 (60) to 8.5 (53).

Storm led 2.9 (21) to 0.1 (1) at half-time, but Sandhurst got on the board in the third quarter.

Strathfieldsaye’s Matt Smith received the best-on-ground medal.

● Bambill won the Millewa league grand final by 49 points against Werrimull yesterday.

The sides were level at 5.6 (36) apiece at half-time, but Bambill piled on five goals to one in the third quarter to sit 26 points ahead at the final change.

The final score was 16.14 (110) to 8.13 (61).