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Bombers Back-to-Back Women's Premiers
Killarney Vale are back-to-back AFL Hunter Central Coast premiers after an extra-time thriller against Newcastle City at Newcastle No 1 Sportsground on Saturday.
After scores were locked at 3.3.21 apiece at the end of normal time, goals to Gracie Durick and Taya White saw the Bombers claim the premiership 5.3.33 to 3.3.21.
In warm conditions, in front a vocal Bombers contingent who made the trip to Newcastle, Brad Edwards' team, like they did against Cardiff in the Preliminary Final, got off to a fast start with star midfielder, Brooke Turner kicking a long range goal within the first five minutes of the game. Durick followed this up with a goal from a strong mark to give the Bombers a 12 point lead at the first change. Strong defensive work from Brooke Hoolihan, Holly Gibbons and Audrey Gillingham kept the highly fancied Blues scoreless in the first quarter.
Like all good so do however, Newcastle City hit back strongly in the second quarter keeping the Bombers goalless whilst kicking three goals of their own to go into the main break with a six point lead.
The third quarter was an arm wrestle as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy and once again Newcastle City were kept scoreless for the term whilst brilliant mark and goal from the leagues leading goalkicker, Mia Wilson saw the Bombers take a one point lead into the final quarter.
The final quarter was a thrilling affair with both teams giving their all. The Bombers looked to have the ascendancy early but were unable to get the all important goal but then there defence had to come to the fore as Newcastle City through everything at them as the final siren approach and they stood up superb repelling many goal scoring and even point scoring opportunities. The siren sounded with the scores level and the match entered extra time (5 minutes each way).
Kristen Kessler who had been strong all game was dominant in extra time acting like a conductor of an orchestra and her play through the midfield saw the Bombers open up the City defence and when a Wilson kick cleared the pack and Durick ran into an open goal the Bombers were six points in front at the end of the first period of extra time.
Newcastle City needed a goal to get back into the contest however an excellent mark from White gave her the opportunity to seal the Premiership win for the Bombers and she calmy went back and kicked the goal much to the delight of the Bombers faithful.
After years of heartache the Bombers have now made it back-to-back Women's Cup premierships and Brad and his team should be well pleased with their efforts over the course of the season.
Kessler back up her league Best & Fairest win during the week by being named Best on Ground.
Killarney Vale 2.0.12; 2.1.13; 3.2.20; 3.3.21 5.3.33
Newcastle City 0.0.0; 3.1.19; 3.1.19; 3.3.21; 3.3.21
Goals: Grace Durick 2, Brooke Turner, Mia Wilson, Taya White
Best: Kristen Kessler (Best on Ground), Holly Gibbons, Brooke Hoolihan, Jaida Tabb, Audrey Gillingham, Taya White
You can watch a full replay of the game by clicking here
The highlights can also be found here
All Grand Final Results
Cup Men: Terrigal Avoca 11.13.79 def Newcastle City 8.3.51
Cup Womens: Killarney Vale 5.3.33 def Newcastle City 3.3.21
Plate Men: Newcastle City 11.10.76 def Wyong Lakes 8.5.53
Plate Women: Newcastle City 3.5.23 def Nelson Bay 2.3.15
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Bombers Seeking Premiership Glory
Killarney Vale Women's Cup and U15 Youth Girls teams will be seeking Premiership glory when the AFL Hunter Central Coast season concludes this weekend.
The Women's Cup team will be first up when they travel to Newcastle No 1 Sportsground on Saturday attempting to make it back-to-back premierships when they take on Minor Premiers, Newcastle City at 1.10pm.
The Bombers enter the decider on the back of arguably their best performance of the season last weekend against Cardiff and will take an unchanged line-up into the clash. Newcastle City on the other hand had an easy run into the Grand Final easily accounting for The Entrance Bateau Bay in the Preliminary Final and will fancy their chances having finished the Home & Away season as Minor Premiers suffering just the one loss in the process.
These two teams met twice during the season with the Blues coming out on top both times, by 20 points in Round 2 and 17 points in Round 7. The fact the two teams have not met since 31 May adds further intrigue to the contest.
These two sides rarely put on a bad contest and tomorrow's match, expected to be played in excellent conditions, should be no different.
Just a reminder if you are intending to attend tomorrow's match entry will be $10 for adults with U16's free.
If you can't make it to the game, it will be livestreamed courtesy of BarTV and you can access the free livestream by clicking here.
You can also follow the live scores by clicking here
On Sunday the U15 Youth Girls team will be looking to complete the perfect season when they take on Warners Bay at Feighan Oval No 2 commencing at 12.40pm.
The girls under coaches Jason Fretwell and Evie Gordine have taken all before them this year winning every match including their two previous encounters with their opponents on Sunday, winning by 6 points in Round 5 and 27 points in Round 13.
The side has shown great improvements as the season has progressed which was emphasised by their 100m point win in the Preliminary Final.
Undefeated seasons are rare and the girls are primed for a big performance.
You can also follow the live scores by clicking here
Kessler & Castelnuovo Claim League B & F Awards
Kristen Kessler and Jake Castelnuovo were rewarded for fantastic seasons by claiming the Best & Fairest Medals in the Women's Cup and Men's Plate competitions respectively at AFL Hunter Central Coast Elliott Davey Medal night held last night at Belmont 16 Footers.
Kessler made it three consecutive Chris Arnold Medals for the Bombers after Eliza Hand won the award in 2023 & 2024. In a close count Kessler was able to pull away in the second half of the year to win by three votes from teammate Brooke Turner.
Castelnuovo on the other hand made the Ian Granland Medal count a one-horse race after polling five best on ground in the first eight rounds, saw him clear out from the field before winning with 28 votes, a record in this competition, 14 votes ahead of his nearest rivals.
In the Elliott Davey Medal (Men's Cup competition), Jye Boby finished runner up to Terrigal Avoca midfielder, Jack Grimmond-Lea.
It was a big night for the Bombers with plenty of awards going there way. Here is the complete list:
Chris Arnold Medal Winner: Kristen Kessler
Ian Granland Medal Winner: Jake Castelnuovo
Elliott Davey Medal R/Up: Jye Boby
Men's Representative Player of the Year: Ryan Arthur
Women's Cup Leading Goalkicker: Mia Wilson (63 goals)
Volunteer of the Year Nominee: Ryan Mahalm
Men's Cup Team of the Year: Ryan Arthur, Jye, Boby, Brandon Lloyd, Josh Mifsud
Women's Cup Team of the Year: Kristen Kessler, Mia Wilson, Taya White, Beth Wood, Brooke Turner, Holly Gibbons
Men's Plate Team of the Year: Jake Castelnuovo, Brendan Lewis
Women's Cup Team of the Year: Holly Bryson
You can view all of last night awards including the speeches by clicking here
Bombers Through to the Big Dance
Killarney Vale entered last week's AFL Hunter Central Coast Preliminary Finals with dreams of their two teams progressing through to the Grand Finals and these dreams were fulfilled as both teams put in excellent performances to record victories.
On Saturday, the Women's Cup side took at Cardiff at their home ground and a coaching masterclass from Brad Edwards and a disciplined performance from the side enabled them to record a 19 point victory, 5.5.35 to 2.4.16.
Despite having a negative win/loss ratio against the Hawks during the Home & Away season, Edwards used the time since they last played (Round 9) to devise a game plan to reverse these results and the plan worked a treat as the Bombers were able to get the early ascendancy end establish a 24 point lead at half time. Kristen Kessler, Taya White and Sasha Edwards were key to the Bombers performance. The Cardiff challenged the Bombers after half time however Audrey Gillingham and Holly Gibbons were resolute down back repelling many Cardiff attacking raids which resulted in them being kept to their lowest score for the season. Killarney Vale only kicked one goal after half time but it was enough to see them through to next week's Grand Final where their will defend their crown against powerhouse Newcastle City next Saturday.
Whilst Saturday's performance was excellent, the U15's Youth Girls performance was outstanding as they backed up their unbeaten Home and Away season with an emphatic 100 point win over Maitland, 14.18.102 to 0.2.2. A seven goal to nil first quarter put game to bed and enabled coach, Jason Fretwell and the girls to work on their game ahead of a Grand Final clash with Warners Bay this Sunday at Warners Bay.
You can check out all the results, best players, goalkickers by clicking here
You can view highlights of the Women's Cup game by clicking here
U17's Presentation Night
As our season has come to an end for 2025, our Joint Venture U17 Boys and Girls has their presentation night last Friday.
It was a fabulous night with over 100 families across 3 clubs, coming together at The Hangar to celebrate the season.
The night would not have been possible without the amazing support from our Senior Men and Board Members who kindly gave up their night to cook for us. What a spread of food it was!! Thank you boys!
Congratulations, to all our award winners!
Senior Presentation Night - 24 October 2025
Join us on Friday 24 October for the KVB Senior Presentation Night @ Mingara!
6.30pm arrival for a 7pm start
Dress code: formal
Tickets are $80 per person
Tickets on sale until 10 October
Click Here to Purchase Tickets
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Organisations like ours rely on the community to help us keep doing our best.
Vote for us today at www.greater.com.au/greatercentralcoast
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Bombers Juniors Excel at AFL HCC Award Nights
It was a big night for the Bombers juniors at the annual AFL Hunter Central Coast Juniors Awards night held last night.
The highlight of the night for the Bombers was Ben Howen being crowned Central Coast Auskick Coordinator of the year. In his second season in the role Ben has been outstanding and the time, effort and passion he puts into the Auskick program is over and beyond. It shows each training session and each game just how much the kids, and parents love it.
Congratulations, Ben. Our Auskickers are lucky to have you.
Other highlights included Georgina Trampnau being awarded the Golden Whistle which is a fantastic achievement given it was her first season of umpiring. Holly Bryson received an award for her volunteering which is unbound and includes coaching our Junior U17 Girls, U13 AFLHCC Representative team, a member of the AFLHCC Reps working group committee, KV committee member, Umpiring and everything in between. All this while playing and Umpiring Seniors.
Lily Davidson capped off a great season by finishing R/Up in the U15's Best & Fairest whilst also being named the U15's Youth Girls Rep Player of the Year.
Team Achievement awards were presented to Colby Cortis, Chace Weddell and Sullivan Kelly in the U9's, Lennox Majchrowski and Daniel Albert in the U11 Boys, Lila Knowles and Hallie Diaz in the U11 Youth Girls.
Richard Noone, Georgina Trampnau, Kate Davidson, Lily Davidson, Scarlett Booth, Faith Booth, Holly Bryson and Evie Gordine received Umpire Recognition Awards.
Overall, a great night for the Bombers
Women's Cup Side through to Preliminary Final
Killarney Vale Bombers Women's Cup side are through to the Preliminary Final following a comprehensive 92 point win over Warners Bay in the Semi Final played at Adelaide St Oval last Saturday.
The Bombers dominated from the outset and kept the Bulldogs scoreless in the first half to lead by 49 points at the long break. With Brooke Turner and Tay White dominating through the middle and Mia Wilson (7 goals) and Gracie Durick (4 goals) dominating up forward they were able to continue to dominate the contest on their way to a big win. Well done also to Sarah Murphy on her 50th game.
Killarney Vale will now play Cardiff, in a replay of last years Grand Final, in the Preliminary Final at Cardiff this Saturday.
Unfortunately, the Women's Plate sides season came to an end last Saturday after being defeated by Cardiff. The Bombers led by two points at half time however despite a gallant performance were unable to hold off the Hawks who went on to win by 12 points. It was another fantastic season from Courtney and her team and we thank them for their efforts.
It was also a disappointing day for the Juniors last Sunday with all three competing sides, U13 Boys Red & Black & U17's boys all being eliminated. Despite the losses the coaches and players all had fantastic seasons and we thank them and their parents for the commitmnet they have shown throughout the year.
The Bombers are still represented in the juniors by the U15 Youth Girls who finished Minor Premiers and will be looking to gain a berth in the Grand Final when they play Maitland at Adelaide St Oval on Sunday.
If you want to check out all the senior and junior results, ladders, goalkickers and best players click here
Senior Coaching Expressions of Interest
Killarney Vale AFC is calling for Expressions of Interest for their Men's and Women's Senior and Reserve Grade Coaching positions for the 2026 season.
Killarney Vale is a family based club situated on the beautiful Central Coast of NSW and play in the AFL Hunter Central Coast competition and have won Premierships in both the Men's and Women's competitions within the past four years.
The clubs boasts arguably the best facilities on the coast with the successful applicants having access to a training facility for 12 months of the year as well as a clubhouse which includes a gymnasium and coach education room with full AV facilities.
These positions would be ideal for someone looking for a sea change or wanting to be involved with a progressive club. The position would also be suitable for playing or non-playing persons.
The successful applicant would be required to hold a current AFL Bronze Coaching Accreditation (Preferably Silver for Senior Coaches)
Expressions of Interest are to be sent to gm@kvbombers.com with a closing date on 22 September 2025.
Well Done Shack
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A huge congratulations to Corey Shackleton on completing his Advanced Coaching Accreditation.
This accreditation is the highest available for Community Coaches with a strict entry criteria. Only 10 position were available for AFL NSW/ACT coaches and our very own Shack was one of those!
Forster Re-elected as President
Killarney Vale will head into the 2025 season with a familiar face at the helm after Paul Forster was re-elected as President for a 15th season.
At the recent Annual General Meeting, Skye Bailey was elected to the position of Secretary replacing Terry Ford who took on the Vice President's role. Peter Kelleher remained as Treasurer.
John Pidgeon and Sasha Edwards joined Ash Page and Ben Simpson as Board Members.
A big thank you to Peter Harvey and Mick McLeod, both of whom did not seek re-election, for their tireless work on the Board for a number of years.
Killarney Vale Recognised as Women's & Girls Chartered Club
Killarney Vale AFC have been officially recognised by the AFL as a Women's & Girls Chartered Club.
Killarney Vale have an excellent female program and is committed to continuing to create a welcoming, safe and inclusive environment for all.
