By Justin Schwarze
It was the Luke Ryan show under bright lights at Toomuc Reserve on Saturday evening with Pakenham routing Belgrave in Outer East Division 1.
Ryan was the best on ground, logging 41 disposals and six goals from the midfield in a virtuoso performance.
However, it didn’t seem like it was going to be all smooth sailing in the first quarter when the Magpies hit the enemy turf running.
The visitors bounced off halfback and went through the corridor to Nathan Power, who was illegally pushed out of the contest and awarded a free kick.
Power’s set shot sailed through the big sticks to give Belgrave the perfect start.
The Lions were left shell shocked when Nathan Dawson marked and slotted a quick second from the pocket.
The onslaught didn’t stop there; the Magpies won another centre clearance and sent the ball back inside 50 and Dawson broke free to mark again.
He missed this time, but the kick-in was intercepted and blasted straight back inside a dangerous area for Pakenham.
This time, Kyle Nunn juggled a contested grab in a prime spot and the Lions defenders looked at each other in disbelief.
Nunn kicked truly and boosted Belgrave to a 19-0 scoreboard advantage.
Pakenham was able to go forward off the next centre bounce, but the visitors rebounded out of the pocket and transitioned the footy up the line via a connected kicking chain.
The quick ball movement allowed Nunn to get out the back and run in for his second goal in a matter of minutes, leaving the Lions in complete disarray.
A complete shock to the system must’ve knocked Pakenham awake, because the response was nothing short of emphatic.
It started with Sam Cachia booting the Lions’ first, followed by majors from Zak De Bono, Josh Haggar, Mason Hall and Ben Green.
After conceding the first four, Pakenham piled on five unanswered goals to somehow lead at the first change, 5.1(31) to 4.4(28).
The streak of majors continued into the second term, with Green nailing back-to-back goals to extend the margin.
De Bono then roved a marking pack, collecting the footy and swiftly throwing it onto his boot to snap it home for his second of the night.
Following that, Bailey Stiles found space to run and mark, going back to kick the Lions’ ninth consecutive goal.
At the main break, Pakenham led 9.7(61) to 4.5(29).
Out of halftime, the Lions quickly put the game to bed by putting through eight majors to one in the third.
Ryan booted four of his six in the period, charging through the midfield and hitting the scoreboard in different ways.
His first was a well-placed set shot from 35 metres, which was followed by De Bono’s third major.
At the other end, the run of 11 straight Pakenham goals finally ended when Power kicked truly for goal.
After Stiles booted his second, Ryan picked up the ball when it was deflected from a pack, turned and bent through a snap to tip the margin over 50 points.
He got his third when his Belgrave defender dropped a mark right into his hands, giving him time and space to slot yet another snap around the body.
The Lions did not look back, riding the goalkicking frenzy to claim a 25.14 (164) to 7.8 (50) win in the night game.
“I was really impressed with how the boys played, it was certainly our best four-quarter effort that we’ve had all year,” senior coach Justin Stanton said.
“After that first 10 minutes, we started to take our opportunities going forward and we looked really impressive.
“It was evident late in the first quarter if we could win the midfield battle; they were going to have difficulty being able to contain all of our forwards.
“The way we used the football under lights in the cold weather was really impressive.
“Our kicking skills and our marking skills were the best I’ve seen from a local side in those types of conditions.
“I’m happy the guys are playing the way we’ve spoken about and trained.
“They’ve embraced the style of game we’ve tried to play and the execution is getting better and better each week, that’s what I’m most proud of.
“We’re not relying on one or two individuals, it’s certainly a team-first mentality and everyone’s contributing in their own way each week.
“The results are terrific obviously, but I’m more impressed by the fact they’re listening to instructions, they’re working hard to keep improving their own game individually and they train hard.”
Ryan’s on-field production was certainly noteworthy, especially with the high standard he is playing at through the club’s first four games.
The midfield’s ability to go forward and apply pressure was significant to Stanton.
“The main standout was the performance of Luke Ryan,” Stanton said.
“He was outstanding again and kicking six goals from the midfield was an enormous effort.
“His season so far has been outstanding and we couldn’t be happier with him and what he’s brought to the team.
“We don’t rely on just one goalkicker, so we had nine individual goalkickers which was really pleasing.
“The forwards finished off the work, but our midfield was also able to get on the scoreboard.
“We also wanted to win the ground balls, be clean with our possessions and finish the work up forward.
“We felt if we kept that up, the second half would be ours, and it certainly played out like that.
“To have 13 goals from the midfield, it was by far our best performance of the year which was great.”
Stiles had two goals and 21 disposals, while Tanner Stanton had the ball on a string with 35 possessions and two goals.
Green finished with four for the evening while getting his hands on the footy and disposing of it 24 times.
Pakenham now enters the bye with a chance to rejuvenate and retool, but the first part of season 2025 has a green tick next to it according to Stanton.
“We’ve broken the season down into little blocks, and that was the first block we were able to tick off in the first four games,” he said.
“We’re going to reload and look at that next block; we’re going to face a couple of those teams around us on the ladder so they’ll be big challenges.”
Over at Yarra Glen Recreation Reserve, Josh Hawkins put the league on notice by booting a massive haul of 14 goals against Yarra Junction.
The bag put the River Pigs on track to grab a 25.19(169) to 8.2(50) win.
Seville managed to just hold off Warburton Millgrove in an entertaining clash of contenders.
At home, Justin Myers’ performance of 19 disposals and nine tackles was able to overcome Tom Barr with 22 touches and two goals, as the Blues got the job done by a score of 11.8 (74) to 9.12 (66).
Alexandra bounced back from last week, comfortably handling business against Powelltown on the road 10.9 (69) to 17.15 (117).
Josh Edwards booted five goals for the Rebels and Mitch Parker managed four majors in support.
Yea had the bye.
