Clubs honour great players

By Glen Atwell and Brad Kingsbury
PAKENHAM and Cranbourne Football Clubs celebrated reunions last weekend.
More than 300 people crowded into the Cardinia Cultural Centre on Saturday night for Pakenham’s Quarter of a Century Revival to pay tribute to past and present players.
Awards of recognition were presented to the best football and netball players the club has produced in the past 25 years.
The football team was announced in a countdown format from 25 to one, eventually crowning Darren Hillard as the best player and Neville Powles as the best coach to lead the proud club in that time.
One of the organisers, Graham Burridge, said Hillard was a deserving recipient of the number one spot. “There was no question about it, he was brilliant,” Burridge said.
Hillard played 18 years for Pakenham and always led by example on and off the field.
The netball club presented a team of the quarter century.
Kris Shelton was singled out as the team captain and former netball club president Bree Czempinski said the netball team selected was perfect. “It was a very balanced side. There is no one best player,” she said.
Current coach Travis Burridge was honoured as the pick of the coaches from the past 25 years.
Cranbourne hosted its reunion of the 1985 and 1995 premiership teams throughout Saturday afternoon with many former players and officials attending the day which featured the club’s traditional clash with neighbours Devon Meadows.
Triumphant coaches Daryl Nisbett (1985) and Andrew Dalgleish attended with a highlight of the day being the surprise inclusion of Dalgleish in the club’s senior team on the day, his first game since retiring at the start of the 2004 season.
Before the game, Dalgleish, who has been assisting the side as runner this season, said that the effort to win the 1995 flag had been massive given the club was in its first season of competition in the MPNFL after the South West Gippsland league folded.
Nisbet said that the 1985 victory had started years of success at the club that saw it win three consecutive premierships.
“It’s great to get back to the club for these things and have a beer with good mates,” he said.
The oldest former player in attendance was 1951 premiership player Owen Kelsall, 79, who is one of only four players from the side still alive.
The top 25 footballers were: 1 Darren Hillard, 2 Lincoln Withers, 3, Michael Holland, 4 Dan O’Loughlin, 5 Travis Murphy, 6 Greg Atkins, 7 Adam Ladbrook, 8 Brian Brady, 9, Mark Carney, 10 Andrew Wellwood, 11 Tim Cantwell, 12 Ricky Tyrrell, 13 Tim Utber, 14, Glen Wouters, 15 Ian Orton, 16 Brian Paynter, 17 Joel Padley, 18 Graham Hall, 19 Paul Pfieffer, 20 Derrick Brown, 21 Mark Paynter, 22 Michael Utber, 23 Tim Nooy, 24 Dale Brice, 25 Stuart Fraser.
The netball squad was: Kris Shelton (captain), Heather Walker, Jodie Prentice, Jenny Best, Lee Kitchin, Pam Wouters, Cassie Dalton, Katie Delarue, Sonia Murphy and Travis Burridge (coach).