Lion defender Joe Allen was one of several players to take on Cranbourne star Marc Holt in Saturday’s clash at Casey Fields.PAKENHAM battled away against Cranbourne at the unfamiliar Casey Fields ground on Saturday and came away with a hardfought 37point victory.
The margin flattered the Lions, who were challenged by the improving young home side for three and half quarters before an edge in class and experience combined to produce five lastquarter goals and see them home and on top of the ladder for the first time this year.
Wind marred the game on the open and unprotected ground and kept the scores low with Cranbourne leading by four points at the first change and Pakenham by 10 points at halftime.
Inaccuracy struck Cranbourne in the third term with a return of two goals eight behinds, costing it the lead going into the final term.
An early major saw the home team threaten, but the Lions steadied and stormed home to take the points and replace Narre Warren at the top of the table after the completion of the first full round of homeandaway games.
Cory Lenders was in good form for the Lions, backed up by Stuart Burridge, Lincoln Withers and coach Michael Holland.
Holland praised Cranbourne after the game, saying that with continued improvement it would be a tougher team to beat.
“We were under pressure early on and that made it hard,” he said. “We’ve been down for the last few weeks, but I’m not taking anything away from them.
“They are a good young side and they’re going to trouble a lot of sides on the way home especially over there.
“We’re still winning and that’s great, but whether we’re on top of the ladder or not is not the question at this time of year. There’s still a lot of football to be played.”
Holland also singled out star forward Marc Holt as a key for Cranbourne.
Holt was joined by teammates Sean Mulqueen, Aaron Pike and his brother Leigh Holt among their side’s best players.
A REALITY check after a slight midyear slump saw Keysborough add Devon Meadows’ scalp to its list on the weekend.
The Burra smashed the Panthers at the stoppages and were too big and strong around the ground, taking out the onesided contest by 141 points.
Despite being without keys Stuart Nagle and Greg Walker, Keysborough bounced out of the blocks and scored 10 goals to two in the first quarter with leading goalkicker Luke McGuinness and elusive forward Michael Davis creating strong attacking options.
The rout continued after a quieter second quarter and Keysborough pounded its attacking 50metre arc through superb play from recruits Shaun Daly, Clinton King and William Gayfer, booting 16 goals to four after half time.
McGuinness ended the game with 10 goals and it was the first time the Burra had topped the 30goal mark for four years.
Former South Adelaide player, Daly, was best afield and proved his versatility by spending time at halfforward, halfback and on the ball as a second ruckman to Sean Witherden.
Keysborough coach Paul Jeffries was pleased with the fourquarter effort of his players, but said he was only looking ahead to next week with his improving team.
“We probably should have kicked more goals than we did. We missed some easy goals, but it was a good win,” he said.
“We fell away over the midyear break and some guys dropped off training a bit, but that’s been rectified now and our intensity at the ball is good again. We must beat the sides above us and until we do that we have to just take it week by week. It’s no use putting pressure on myself and the club because, let’s face it, they didn’t win one game last year so our aims have to stay realistic.”
Devon Meadows was well served by Scott Young, Chris Shepherdson and captain Jesse DeHey.
A YOUNG and keen Beaconsfield did what was required to down Dingley by 139 points at the Perc Allison Reserve.
The Eagles were without several key players including Chris Kelf, Clint Evans (who booted nine goals in the reserves), Daniel Charles and coach Haydn Robins, but made the most of that by giving several teenage prospects a chance to show their wares.
The Eagles started with the assistance of the breeze and booted six goals to nothing in the first term, setting the trend of the afternoon.
Dingley that also was made up of predominantly younger players, tried hard, but was outclassed across the field and the margin grew larger as the game progressed.
Luke McConnell finished the day with 10 goals in his 100th game for the club, while others to contribute well to the Eagles’ victory included Kris Fletcher, Daniel Mislicki, Bryce Tonks and Jesse Linkins who snared 27 possessions in his first senior game.
Robins was relatively happy with his side and particularly pleased with the progress of his inexperienced younger brigade.
“I didn’t think we were too bad. We went to sleep a little bit in the last quarter, but this was one of those ones that we just had to get over and we did that,” he said.
“The young players were good and that was a positive. We had the chance to look at a few of them and they all performed well.”
