Eagle Daniel Battaglin is at the bottom of this growing pack.
By Mark Gullick
ALTHOUGH displaying strong form in only three quarters, Pakenham left Perc Allison Oval with a 43-point win over Beaconsfield.
Lions coach Michael Holland was disappointed his team gave up a significant lead for the second time this year.
In round two, Pakenham held an eight-goal advantage over Doveton, before conceding 10 goals in the last term en route to a shock 16-point loss.
Against Beaconsfield, the Lions held a similar lead before the Eagles kicked four goals to nil in the third term to close the gap.
However, Pakenham excelled in the last term and scored seven goals to two, to win comfortably.
“The first 10 minutes (of the game) we were pretty lackadaisical, but after that we kicked into gear,” Holland said.
“Then they got one (David White) sent off halfway through the second quarter. We were a couple of goals up, and we kicked clear a bit. The third quarter was disappointing. We dropped our intensity and our competitive footy. To the boys’ credit, in the last quarter they responded and kicked away in the end, which was pleasing. I don’t think there was any concern on our behalf that they’d overrun us. It was just a matter of us getting our hands on the ball first.”
Pakenham was well served by big man Kym Jones, defender Michael Taurua, Adam Cook (five goals) and Jason Fisher.
Russell Lehman (four goals) continues to impress.
“He’s a class act,” Holland said.
“He was at (Gippsland) Power a couple of years ago. The first couple of games, he took a bit to find his feet, getting used to playing with blokes he had never played with. But his last six weeks, he’s been very good for us.”
Beaconsfield captain Daniel Mislicki led his team superbly in the midfield; Daniel Battaglin was strong in defence and youngster Michael McPhie was prominent.
Matthew Stocco, in his return to the club, played well, as did Ben McGowan and the consistent Damien Szwaja.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:
DEVON MEADOWS v KEYSBOROUGH
A STUNNING seven-goal final term tipped Devon Meadows over Keysborough in the battle of the cellar-dwellers at EG Allen Oval.
While the focus of the league was 10 kilometres up the road at Hampton Park, this battle had heightened significance for both teams, who were yearning for their first win.
Keysborough had first use of the roaring wind and kicked 6.5 to lead by 38 points.
“Our first quarter was outstanding,” Keysborough coach Brad Canavan said.
“Second quarter, we did a good job defensively and held them. We led at half-time (by 13 points). In the third quarter, the momentum started to shift a little bit. They controlled the footy. We had the wind, but only kicked a couple of goals. We needed an eight-goal lead going into the last quarter, unfortunately we only had a four-goal lead. (In the last quarter) we battled away alright for the first 20 minutes. We got the ball into our forward 50m a couple of times, but we weren’t able to take a grab or kick a goal. There were a couple of scuffles, little spot-fires here and there, and they were able to take control and kick goals quickly.”
Devon Meadows coach Rod Keogh was pleased with the win, saying that it would provide a much-needed lift for his players.
“It might be light at the end of the tunnel and a good starting point for us,” he said.
“Hopefully, we can get a bit of confidence out of the win. Keysborough played a good game of footy. We let ourselves down and made hard work of it in the first half. The boys kept working hard and they ran the game out well. Once (the players) got a bit of a sniff on the scoreboard, the ability to hit targets and those sorts of things came good. We were able to kick a few goals on the back of that.”
Keogh said the third quarter was crucial.
“We were going into a howling breeze and the boys held Keysborough out on the scoreboard,” he said.
“We weren’t looking at a 10-goal deficit at three quarter-time because our boys played so well in that third quarter to limit Keysborough scoring. The players came in at three quarter-time knowing they had the breeze behind them.”
Devon Meadows’ improvement came from its on-ballers.
“Locky Burke, Brandon Wapshott, Chris Campbell, Nathan Dumerge and Aaron Laing were fantastic through the midfield,” Keogh said.
“That’s the area where we have been lacking in terms of rotations. We had some young fellas in key positions in the last quarter and they certainly stood up. We didn’t just rely on Jess (DeHey) or Tom (Cotton), which was good.”
Classy midfielder Steve McInnes was a shining light for Devon Meadows, while consistent performers Patrick Harms, Michael Bain and Ryan Talbot featured heavily in the win. David Velardo kicked three goals.
It was a devastating loss for Keysborough, who led for the majority of the match.
“Our boys were really hurting after the game,” Keysborough coach Brad Canavan said.
“We were really up for the game. You could sense it throughout the week at training. I was lost for words at one stage, I didn’t know what to say. It was bit of a heart-breaker for us.”
Canavan was proud of his team and said they played good football, but key injuries early in the game proved a hindrance.
Ruckman Shaun Witherden and midfielder Geoff Humphreys were injured in the opening moments of the match.
“We won’t say much about the injuries, but they were a little bit unsavoury to say the least,” Canavan said.
Canavan was “disappointed” with the umpiring.
“We got a young kid and he was probably out of his depth unfortunately,” he said.
“I thought just for the sake that it was a bottom of the table clash and a fair bit on the line, we may have got a couple more experienced umpires.
You’ve got to have the umpires coming through the system, but he probably wasn’t the right choice for the game.”
Luke McGuinness kicked five goals, while midfielder Michael Downie, key big men Will Gayfer and Tyson King, and Waata Wells were superb.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:HAMPTON PARK v CRANBOURNE
CRANBOURNE overcame a rugged Hampton Park to record a 22-point win in blustery conditions at Robert Booth Reserve.
As the players took their positions, enthralling match-ups developed.
