By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE Pakenham Silverbacks clinched a Gridiron Victoria Division-2 playoff berth in sensational fashion on Sunday with a dominant 48-6 display over the Ballarat Falcons.
On a frosty morning at the Tom Flood Sports Centre in Bendigo, the Silverbacks displayed a high-intensity game from the outset – beginning with two long drives, with Adam Kolinski scoring at the end of both of them, and a conversion to middle linebacker turned fullback and all-around human wrecking ball Tommy Trimble taking the score to 14-0.
Pakenham’s defense was nothing short of brilliant – stopping everything the Falcons threw at it. But Ill-discipline led to two huge plays – a 60-yard run and a 40-yard run, which both resulted in touchdowns to Kolinski – brought back due to penalties, and a similar touchdown run from Jason Howlett brought back for the same reason. The only defensive lapse all day saw the Falcons score just before half-time, and going into the break the scoreline of 14-6 was hardly reflective of the Silverbacks’ dominance.
But after a half-time assessment, and a quick rev up, Pakenham came out firing again. Kolinski made an immediate impact, running in another big touchdown to finish with three for the day, and around 100 yards, before being rested after the first drive of the second half.
When Pakenham’s defense backed the Falcons up against their own goal line, a safety looked imminent, and that’s exactly what the Silverbacks brought. From there, they ran rampant, with a classic one-handed catch to Aaron Verbakel on a long ball from quarterback Steve Mclean, who was sublime all day, hitting players at will and scrambling for yards in a man-of-the-match effort that produced a near-perfect completion rate.
The Silverbacks welcomed Dave Fevaleaki back into the side and his first touch resulted in a side stepping, flashy 50-yard run that would hold its own on any NFL highlight site.
Mutini Nhilziyo made a spectacular play for another safety, jumping the line to sack the opposition quarterback in his own end zone, and when Fevaleaki returned the ball for another 50-plus yard touchdown from the resulting kick off, the score was piling on.
Josh Smith ran in three conversions on point-after attempts, and when the final whistle blew, the Silverbacks had bounced back from a series of disappointing weeks to record a convincing rout due in no small part to both the offensive and defensive lines performing at an incredibly high level.
Pakenham will head back to the Tom Flood Sports Centre this Saturday for their clash with local rivals, the Gippsland Gladiators from 4pm.
