By RUSSELL BENNETT
WITH the Melbourne Uni Lions pulling out of Gridiron Victoria’s Division 2 season, the Pakenham Silverbacks will this week have their second consecutive break.
But with the Lions’ forfeiture comes valuable championship points for a Silverbacks team, amazingly still in playoff contention in its first year of existence, and without the chance to host games on its own home field – it has no home.
The nomad Silverbacks have been ultra-impressive over recent rounds with a pair of stirring wins – 7-6 over the Gippsland Gladiators in Morwell, and an 18-0 shutout of the Ballarat Falcons in Endeavour Hills.
The Silverbacks are now just three-points adrift of the Falcons in third place in Division 2 and have a number of key players in ominous form including teenage star Felix Brown, defensive line captain Richmond Stowers, the fearless Adam Kolinski and quarterback Steve Mclean.
Promisingly for Pakenham – its last two regular season games will be against the Gladiators and Falcons again. The Silverbacks will hold no fear in returning to Morwell on 2 August for their game against Gippsland. It’s the scene of their now famous ‘Miracle at Maryvale’ week-10 win.
In other local gridiron news, the Pakenham Storm women’s team is seeking expressions of interest for coaches and players for the 2015 season. Anyone interested should send an email to: nikki.d_angelo@hotmail.com. Ladies of all ages and fitness levels will be welcomed aboard.
And on the junior front, the Silverbacks had 28 attendees at their first session with another 10 apologies, which just goes to show how quickly the sport is growing in the area.
The Silverbacks are now running regular junior sessions from 6pm each Monday at Beaconsfield’s O’Neil Road Reserve.
