By Jonty Ralphsmith
A second half fade-out has cost Pakenham United the prized scalp of undefeated top-of-the-table Fortuna 60 in the Men’s State League 5 competition.
The 4-2 loss leaves Pakenham with one win and one draw from its four games in 2025, languishing at seventh spot, 11 points behind the ladder-leaders putting its promotion hopes in jeopardy.
Playing an opposition that had conceded just three goals across its first four games, Pakenham found the back of the net twice in the first 30 minutes, courtesy of Yaseen Laghmane and Chad Milne.
But Fortuna 60 twice scored two goals in 10 minutes to run over the top of Pakenham, continuing a worrying trend so far in 2025.
On average, when Pakenham concede a goal, they concede another within 11 minutes, and thus losing control of the contest.
Despite having just the four points, Pakenham has led at some stage in four of its five games, before losing the momentum, which has been a source of frustration for coach Dean Alburey.
“That’s something we need to focus on so that next time we concede a goal, we just focus on not conceding for the next 15 minutes and settle ourselves down and get ourselves back into a rhythm so it’s something we’ll focus on at training this week,” Alburey said.
“It’s just about managing the game better – hopefully we can push on to get some results.
“I think it’s a mental thing – now that it’s happened a couple of times, you can fall into the mindset of ‘here we go again’ so we need to respond better to adversity.
“Once we tighten up maintaining a lead and not conceding (two quick goals), we’re going to be difficult to beat. In terms of attacking, we’re looking a lot better, we’re creating very good chances.”
The result was disappointing given how promising the start to the game was for Pakenham, missing two senior defenders and its first choice goalkeeper.
“We had another couple of really good opportunities to extend the lead but the Fortuna ‘keeper made some good saves and we hit the post and crossbar,” Alburey said.
“It’s probably the best football we’ve played all year in terms of ball movement and energy and creating good opportunities.
“As soon as we gave up the goal, the sting went out of the boys, unfortunately.”
Pakenham will have extra motivation this week, taking on fifth-placed Bunyip in the local rivalry at IYU Recreation Reserve on Saturday at 3pm.
