By Gavin Staindl
A BARBECUE and fizzy drinks at their newfound home ground was the perfect way to top off the Cora Lynn/Pakenham Upper Cobras’ fairytale season.
The under 11 junior side held on by four points to claim its first Division Three South East Junior grand final on Sunday – not bad considering two weeks before the start of the season the side had eight players on its list.
“At the start of the season we barely had any players and I didn’t expect to win a game,” coach Jay Hanks said.
In their debut season, the Cobras not only won their first game of the season, but they won every game for the remainder of the year. After kicking off its South East Junior program last year with an under-9 side, Cora Lynn went a step further this season by introducing an under-11 side.
Because of exposure concerns, the junior program joined forces with Pakenham Upper and based its junior team at the Pakenham Upper/Toomuc oval.
The move has attracted kids from Pakenham as well as Cora Lynn and, according to Hanks, it has been a successful move.
“We’ve had boys and girls who don’t normally get much of a run coming to us and we’ve been giving them a fair go,” Hanks said.
“Our aim is to give everyone a run and we haven’t had a player who has played less than three quarters in a game. You could just see the confidence of the players grow… we’re all pretty proud.”
The club is hoping to form an under-17 team next year to allow for an easier transition between the under-15 and under-18 Ellinbank and District junior league age groups.
