Pakenham has fallen out of Outer East Premier Division finals contention in dramatic fashion.
While the Lions sat four points and percentage ahead of Monbulk, they still needed to defeat the Hawks, as the competition ruling protects form between two sides that sit equal on points.
As Monbulk won the round-nine encounter in June, it was a ‘win and in’ scenario for Ash Green’s men.
But the tilt for finals football took an early hit for the visitors, when skipper Chris Cardona suffered an injury close to the boundary line in the opening 10 minutes of the game.
And despite a first quarter from Zac Stewart that comfortably grossed at least 12 disposals and three intercept marks, the Lions couldn’t apply the pressure on the scoreboard.
The Hawks – particularly Taylor Joyce (three goals) – looked ominous going forward early, but also failed to kick truly and put the Lions away.
Trailing by 26 points at the main break, Pakenham was in desperate need of the first major of the third period – and a spark to bring it back to life.
It came in style through Kane Tyrrell, who produced a sensational snap from deep in the pocket to bring his side within three goals.
While a splendid Kai Linde set-shot split the Lions three third-term goals, Pakenham played approximately 15 minutes of its own football, trimming the margin to 16 points ahead of the final change.
But a red-time goal from Joyce – his second – burst the balloon of the Lions, who despite having all of the ascendancy had somehow only shaved the margin by four points in the third stanza.
It was party time for Monbulk in the fourth, which appeared to have another quarter of footy left in the legs.
After Adam Alberni kicked the Lions to within 16 at the 18-minute mark of the third, the Hawks piled on six of the next seven majors to secure the 12.12 (84) to 5.6 (36) victory.
A shattered Green said his boys left everything out there and came up short in the last.
“Yeah as I said I am proud of the boys, but we just ran out of legs,” he said.
“You lose your captain in the first 10 minutes of the game… if we had have won we would’ve had a lot of changes for next week.
“To Monbulk’s credit they were terrific today… yeah it’s disappointing, it’s just been one of those years.
“We have to learn from it; hopefully we go into 2023 with a different attitude.”
Footy was nefarious to Pakenham this season, both on field with a heavy injury toll, and off field a long time before a footy had even been bounced.
“I won’t whack the previous structure, but a lot of us probably wouldn’t have been here if it went that way,” Green said of the pre-season drama.
“To not have the rooms, Derrick (Brown) had to jump up and be president with Aaron’s (Green) support.
“We don’t need those politics, footballers need to play, train and enjoy each other’s company – the last thing they want is to worry about that stuff off the field.
“They were terrific, I can’t credit them enough.”
In a change room filled with emotion post game, many Lions voiced their praise for a resilient group.
One of those voices was captain Chris Cardona, who promised he is yet to play his final game, but will be relinquishing the captaincy in 2023.
Green couldn’t thank Cardona enough, while also not giving much away on whether he will coach on next season.
“He has been fantastic and a really good leader for us,” Green said.
“We were struggling in my first year at the club, and he stood up, I don’t worry about what he does on the field, more about what he does off the field – he has been a wonderful leader.
“I honestly don’t know (about my future), I have to sit down over the next few days with my family and have a chat with the club to see their thoughts.
“I love the club and I’ll see what I can do for the club… I don’t know, I will see over the next couple of days where I am at.”
Turn to Page 28 and 29 of the Football Lift Out for the remainder of the Outer East coverage.
