By DAVID NAGEL
THE emotion and relief was clear to see on the face of Pakenham (7/152) under-17 coach Neil Chaplin after the Lions won their first top-age junior flag in 30 years against Beaconsfield (9/149) on Sunday.
Chaplin, who coached son Aaron to a junior football premiership with the club, had just watched his youngest boy Zac hit the winning runs to give the Lions a three-wicket win just five balls remaining in Zac’s last game of junior cricket.
“It’s fantastic, it’s pretty emotional for him to be out there at the end and to hit the winning runs in his last game of junior cricket,” Neil said.
“It was a really good captain’s knock, but all the boys did exactly what I told them and they really deserve to win this one. It was a real team effort.”
Chaplin said Beaconsfield’s tormenting of the Lions in the past made the victory particularly sweet.
“Absolutely, we’ve lost some really tight games to them over the years so it was great to get one back,” he said.
“We’ve got a good bunch of kids that have played together for the last four or five years and for them to get that ultimate reward is really satisfying.”
Chaplin said he will miss junior coaching but that there were some benefits to giving it away.
“I can sleep in on Saturdays and I’ll get my Tuesday and Thursday nights back now.”
