By DAVID NAGEL
PAKENHAM scored one its best home-and-away victories in recent memory on Saturday, downing Casey Cardinia league power-house Cranbourne by one point at a wet and wintry Toomuc Reserve.
The Lions had not defeated the Eagles since their last premiership year in 2009 – a long 248 weeks ago.
A torrential-downpour descended upon the Lions’ home ground just prior to play, leaving a layer of surface water on the usually impeccable deck.
Neither team gave or asked for an inch in the first half with Cranbourne’s Michael Theodoridis looking dangerous up forward but the slippery conditions made scoring difficult.
The Eagles took a four-point lead into half-time but then struggled in the second half.
Pakenham kicked six of the seven goals that were scored between the main break and the 24-minute mark of the final term to take what looked to be a match-winning 20-point lead into the dying stages.
But the Eagles didn’t lay down with quick goals to skipper Marc Holt, Tim Smith and Luke Bee-Hugo bringing the margin back to a point.
A centre clearance by Pakenham’s Russ Lehman condemned the Eagles to another heart-breaker at the venue.
Pakenham’s Steve Morey did a wonderful job on Holt but it was youngster Troy Toussaint who stood out from the crowd with his impeccable wet-weather skills. Defender Nathan Brown, skipper Steve O’Bryan and running-machine Dom Paynter were others to catch the eye.
The Lions’ fourth position is up for grabs this week when they travel to Holm Park Road to take on fifth-placed Beaconsfield.
Berwick scored its seventh win from eight outings when it ground out a 65-point win over Hampton Park at Edwin Flack Reserve.
The Wickers, who were expected to push this one out to a three-figure margin, were contained by the wet conditions and their bottom-placed opponent who never stopped trying all day.
The Wickers just gradually forged ahead by two to three goals each quarter.
Harry Money and Nathan Waite kicked three each for the victors while skipper Madi Andrews continued his fantastic form with another dominant performance through the midfield.
Nathan Allen kicked the Redbacks’ only goal and was among their best performers.
Narre Warren was missing some of its biggest stars but still showed its class with a clinical 94-point win over Doveton at Kalora Park.
The Magpies made eight changes to the team that kicked 15 goals in the last quarter against ROC last week but were still dominant, keeping the Doves to a solitary goal for the match.
Young-gun Liam Myatt kicked four for the Magpies while the midfield brigade of Col McNamara, Dylan Quirk and Jackson Parker handled the wet conditions well. Taylor Rainey kicked the Doves’ only goal for the match while Scott Dinsdale and Simon Black were also effective.
The margin of victory was the big surprise down at Westernport Oval where Beaconsfield towelled-up a disappointing Tooradin by 111 points.
The Seagulls were simply non-competitive as the Eagles kicked 14 goals to two in the first half to take a 78-point lead to the break.
Taylor Joyce was the standout player on the ground, with seven goals for the visitors, who also had Tyson Mitchem, Michael McPhie and Daniel Battaglin in tip-top form.
The Eagles’ true credentials will be tested in the coming weeks with games against Pakenham, Berwick and Narre Warren.
ROC moved to sixth place on the CCFL ladder after walking away from Rowley Allen Reserve with a 62-point win over a depleted Keysborough outfit.
The Burra – which was missing Chris Bryan, Ryan Goodes, Geoff Humphreys, Tyson King and Glenn Hawthorn – had no answers as the Kangaroos had surged to a six-goal lead by half time.
Matt Clarke slotted five for the winners while James Sloothaak, Dylan Chapman, Andrew Logan and Ben Tivendale were others to put their names in lights.
Michael Downie was the Burra’s best player and kicked two for the afternoon.
