West Kimberley crowned champions at annual Kimberley Colts Cup

Football players representing the East, West and Central Kimberley went head-to-head on Sunday afternoon to battle it out for the Kimberley Colts Championship Cup.

Teams were formed by players from the Central Kimberley, the East Kimberley and the West Kimberley football leagues.

Three half games took place between the three under-19s teams with the winners going on to face each other in the final.

First the East Kimberley took on the West Kimberley with the East winning by seven points, 5.5 (35) to 4.4 (28).

Then the East Kimberley stayed on the field to face the Central Kimberley team who proved to be no match for the East Kimberley team which won by 74 points, 12.5 (77) to 0.3 (3).

And lastly the West Kimberley took on the Central Kimberley in the decider to see which teams went on to the grand final match with the West Kimberley taking an easy win by 88 points, 14.8 (92) to 0.4 (4).

The West and the East Kimberley battled it out in the grand final match with best players Nathan Ralph, Maurice Clifton and Ziggy Peumorra putting in a great performance for the West, alongside the East Kimberley’s best players for the grand final match Kassim Yeeda, Melvin Tataya and Eric Cox.

But it was the West Kimberley who managed to come out on top this time round, striking down the East Kimberley team by just 12 points to win the championship cup, 6.4 (40) to 4.2 (26).

Kimberley Spirit Program co-ordinator Ben De Meo, who organised the championship said he was impressed with the skills on display.

“The championships were played in true Kimberley spirit, with all three teams representing their region and communities with great pride,” he said.

“All games were played to a great standard, with many players impressing. Thank you to the coaches and volunteers for all the work they put in for their teams.”

After the final, MVP and coaches award medals were handed out with Jahmal Stretch from East Kimberley, who plays for Yardgee Dockers in the EKFL, awarded the overall MVP medal for the championship.

Wes Hatch who plays for the Cable Beach Greenbacks in the WKFL was chosen as the MVP for the West Kimberley team, along with East Kimberley team MVP Dallas McAdam and Central Kimberley MVP Azriel Thirkall.

WKFL Broome Bulls player Campbell Knox received the West Kimberley team’s coaches award, alongside the East Kimberley team coaches award winner Melvin Tataya and the Central Kimberley team coaches award winner Bronson Wongawol.