You couldn’t stop the celebrations at Cardinia Reserve on Sunday as Pakenham claimed top position. 85244 Pictures: JARROD POTTER
By JARROD POTTER
THEY had planned for this match for months.
Mornington seemed relatively impossible to defeat, going the season to date scoring 79 goals and conceding only a scant 24.
Pakenham changed all that with a 2-1 victory on Sunday, which turned the race for the championship in the FFV Men’s Thirds Division Six competition on its head.
Pakenham coach Marcos Sakano re-arranged his side last week against Rowville in anticipation of this round – the Teles brothers, Elbert and Wellington, moved out to the wings while Keegan Bloomfield and Patrick Nolan had run of the forward line.
Sebastian Moreno was a late out for the Cougars, forcing a bit more shuffling for Sakano and the Pakenham brains trust.
All their effort seemed for nought in the first half – neither side could break the deadlock despite a couple of near chances going begging for Pakenham.
The battle after half-time was enthralling – Mornington kicked the first goal of the match soon after the restart but Pakenham hit back through goals to Bloomfield and Elbert Teles.
It left the Cougars up 2-1 but precariously placed with 20 minutes to go.
Mornington fired on all cylinders to look for an equaliser – the match belonged to the visitors from that point on as they peppered Cougars’ goalkeeper Aaron Vaughan with chance after chance.
Vaughan held strong though, keeping out five on-target cannon strikes from Mornington while defender Shanil Kumar repelled another four or five from his own foot.
Mornington had exhausted every option and every possibility to attempt to level the match, but Pakenham wouldn’t yield its lead and when the final whistle sounded, the celebrations began.
The ragtag bunch of vocal supporters, now known as the Pakenham FC Firm, were in full force, giving Mornington a world of trouble from the sidelines, with a megaphone making sure their messages were well-received by the visitors.
The win puts Pakenham into top billing in the division with three matches remaining in the regular season.
“From the start we had a plan, we had a meeting last Friday about what we were going to do to stop Mornington,” Sakano said.
“With all our skills I thought we could make something different.
“We changed positions – we got Elbert and put him in the wing along with his brother as we thought they could move back and forth easily as they have the speed and the skill.
“The last 45 minutes that was out as they scored first, but I knew for a fact we could overcome and score again and we scored and hauled it back.”
Every man on the line-up deserved a pat on the back according to Sakano, especially the hard-working defence to repel numerous attacks in the second half.
“The whole team was great, every single person. Shanil did a great job, Brad didn’t have the speed but had the skills and did exactly what we had to.
“Unfortunately Sebastian couldn’t play and we had to change our plans, because if he was here it would’ve been more than 5-1 I bet.
“They’re a really strong side but we were better and we’re now going to finish this competition on top of the ladder.”
Pakenham faces Truganina on Sunday at home.
