By DAVID NAGEL
THE contagious smile of Pakenham coach Steve O’Bryan returned on Saturday as the Lions bounced back to the winner’s list with a 63-point victory over Tooradin at Toomuc Reserve.
It’s a smile that has largely gone missing since the start of the season when the Lions were at the top of the table after round five and roaring.
But two wins from their next 10 games had sort of dulled the enthusiasm somewhat.
“I’ll be honest and say it hasn’t been enjoyable at times this year and it’s been tough, probably the toughest year I’ve ever had coaching,” O’Bryan said in his typically honest fashion.
The Lions trailed by eight points at half time, but a barnstorming nine-goal third quarter set them on the path to victory.
Playing-coach Steve O’Bryan played a blinder, kicking five, while Daniel Fry’s four goals and great games from Troy Toussaint and Jake Smith were other highlights on the day. Youngsters Nick Schumann and Kris Sabbatucci battled out the four quarters strongly for the Seagulls.
Cranbourne will launch its premiership assault from top-spot on the ladder after a brilliantly executed 86-point victory over Beaconsfield at Holm Park Road.
Cranbourne will now play Doveton in this week’s final round of the season, and then have a week’s rest, before taking part in the second semi-final on Saturday 5 September.
Cranny had to fight hard to break down Beacy but, once it did, it then ran away with one of the more impressive victories of the season.
From the 21 minute mark of the first quarter to the 15 minute mark of the third, Cranbourne kicked 11 of the next 12 goals to open up a 52-point lead.
Cranbourne’s front-half was awesome, Michael Theodoridis kicking six, Marc Holt five, while Curtis Barker slipped forward to slot four of his own. Taylor Joyce kicked four and Scott Meyer tried his heart out for Beacy, who now has to defeat Narre Warren this week to retain its top-three position.
Narre Warren will head into this week’s huge clash with Beaconsfield on a high after slamming through 10 last-quarter goals against Hampton Park at Robert Booth Reserve.
The Magpies didn’t look like 112-point winners at half-time, leading by just 23 points, but released the brakes to record an impressive victory.
George Angelopoulos, Kerem Baskaya and Matt Lee kicked three each for the Magpies and Adam Jamieson slotted two for the Redbacks.
Berwick has finished off its home-and-away duties in style, heading into a last-round bye with a 65-point victory over Doveton under its belt.
The Wickers were erratic in the second and third terms, kicking 1.7 and then 3.9 for a two-quarter total of 4.16.
They finished in style however with an 8.2 to 0.1 final quarter to really put their mark on the contest and put the perfect exclamation mark on a great season.
“We really rate Doveton, and they’ve been in good form, so we were really happy with the way we played,” coach Rhys Nisbet said.
Ash Smith and Luke Nelson bagged four each for Berwick and Travis Davis kicked three for the Doves.
