Pakenham now enters the biggest stage of its season beaming with confidence as the Lions thumped Yarra Glen at home in round 16 of Outer East Division 1.
The hosts were thirsty for blood from the opening bounce, laying multiple aggressive tackles to set the tone.
It was fitting when Sam Cachia ran down a River Pig defender for holding the ball and slotted the first of the afternoon for the Lions.
Despite missing some easy chances, Pakenham piled on five goals in the first term to lead 5.6(36) to 1.0(6) at quarter time.
Some more inaccuracy trickled into the second period as Justin Stanton’s men didn’t take full advantage of the impressive run and ball movement they had down the ground.
At halftime, the Lions held a 8.9(57) to 1.1(7) buffer.
In the halftime address, Stanton cited the need for better concentration when finishing and felt the intensity from the first quarter had fallen a notch.
This shot the outfit into gear with Pakenham booting seven goals to none in the third with the ball use being silky and crisp from the Lions.
When the siren sounded for the final break, Pakenham led 15.12(102) to 1.1(7).
Solid running launched from the backline pushed the hosts forward, with defenders playing higher and even hitting the scoreboard across the afternoon.
A five-goal final period lifted the Lions to the 20.15(135) to 2.2(14) result.
“It was physical, they were a really good pressure team,” senior coach Stanton said of Yarra Glen.
“We just matched them and probably bettered them (in pressure acts) throughout the day, that was a focus going in.
“We wanted to have high pressure acts and try to generate turnovers and we did that so we were able to score goals off that.
“It was really pleasing, the only disappointment was our inaccuracy in front of goal.
“The pressure in our forward line was really good and around the ground we were really aggressive in the way we pressured the opposition and caused them to turn the footy over.”
Another week, another extensive goalkicking list for Pakenham.
This time, 13 different Lions players registered a major in the win, with Cachia leading the way as he bagged four goals.
Ben Green, Josh Haggar, Ryan Martini and Luke Ryan – in his return – all booted two majors each.
Martini especially was phenomenal, with the emerging half forward recording 26 disposals, six marks and four tackles to go alongside his pair of goals.
“It was a great representation of what we aim to achieve when we’re playing good footy,” Stanton reflected on what it meant to have the wide range of goalkickers.
“13 individual goalkickers, that was terrific.
“It’s our second or third week in a row where we’ve had multiple goalkickers from our backline, so that’s a real positive, the even spread was good.
“I think we continued on with our method of moving the football.”
SPECIAL DAY FOR PAKENHAM
The day meant a lot to those involved at the football club as it was a memorial round celebrating the life of the late Neil Poulton, the former head trainer.
All Lions outfits wore red and gold socks, with the proceeds of the sales going to the Heart Foundation.
The Poulton family voted for best on ground with the recipient being awarded a medal, which went to midfielder Rhys Clacy.
Clacy was a brute in the guts, collecting 17 disposals and laying seven tackles.
To add to the special day, reserves playing coach Matt Vaiano eclipsed 100 goals for the season.
THE FINAL STRETCH
Pakenham has looked impressive after its round 14 bye, putting 20 or more goals on the board in back-to-back winning efforts.
Now the toughest and most pivotal segment of the season has arrived.
The Lions host top-of-the-table Warburton Millgrove this week in a matchup that could decide who has the finals week-one bye.
The Burras comfortably handled business by 11 goals when the clubs last met in round eight.
Following that, Pakenham will head to Seville to face the third-placed Blues, the other Division 1 heavyweight that is hunting for a home qualifying final.
“These two weeks are going to be like mini finals for us,” Stanton noted.
“We’re probably going to meet one or both at some stage during the finals, so this will be a good preview to what that looks like.
“We want to make amends against Warburton, they comprehensively beat us early in the year.
“They’re a really good team, just percentage separates us, it’ll be a good challenge.
“We need to match them, last time they beat us up around the footy.
“They won the inside contested footy and they were better than us on the outside.
“We want to match them in those areas, if we do, we think we can win the game.”
