By Marcus Uhe
Coming from behind to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat is incredibly familiar territory for this Pakenham side.
Playing and winnings finals footy, however, is not.
Of the side that wore the maroon and blue in Saturday’s elimination final against Upwey Tecoma, Ash Green estimated only a handful of players had played in September action before.
But worlds collided in a magnificent way for his side in a topsy-turvy game that was in the balance with five minutes remaining, a Jake Thompson cameo in the dying stages putting the 14.13 97 to 11.13 79 result beyond reach for the Tigers.
A typically slow Pakenham quickly found themselves on the back foot, the Tigers’ more experienced outfit setting the tone for the afternoon and showing the necessary intensity required when the season reaches the business end.
A crunching tackle from Heath Sartori on Pakenham debutant Ben Power, and a contest win despite a numbers deficit in front of the interchange bench, symbolic of a side that knew where they were.
The preparedness to use the corridor compared to a risk-avoidant boundary centric approach from Pakenham paid dividends early for the Tigers, who should have been further than 23 points ahead at the first break.
Nine shots on goal to one in the opening term was a wake up call for the Lions, the backline under immense pressure from a weight of numbers going inside their defensive 50.
They were their own worst enemy at times, however, with the three goals Upwey Tecoma kicked all coming from free kicks.
Carmine Porcaro kicked two, one made considerably easier after a 25-metre penalty against Tahj De La Rue, the other coming after the siren after he was infringed in a marking contest.
Nathan Waterman kicked the third, having been blocked by D’Angelo Taito at a ruck contest.
Worryingly for Pakenham, a David Sollberger set shot miss late in the term was immediately rebounded for a score at the other end, despite Sollberger taking the 30 seconds available to prepare for his kick.
While the Tigers didn’t convert, repeat entries afforded Porcaro’s shot after the siren, a moment he took delight in nailing in front of his team’s supporter group.
With the margin 29 points early in the second quarter, things needed to change for Pakenham.
Trump card Jordan Stewart was thrown forward and immediately caused issues for the Tigers defenders as an aerial threat in front of the ball, forming an unexpected yet dynamite combination with Nathan Kannemeyer.
Stewart put Pakenham on the board with a tough set shot nestled in the heart of maroon and blue faithful hanging on the fence before two goals in three minutes from Kannemeyer whipped the supporters, heavily featuring Pakenham’s reserves players who lost earlier in the afternoon, and had played alongside the Ruck for much of the year, into a frenzy.
The Tigers now looked rattled under immense Lion pressure.
Goals to Jake Barclay and Kannemeyer’s third for the period had them remarkably ahead by the half time siren, offering an answer to everything Upwey Tecoma could ask.
Porcaro kicked the opening goal of the second half to regain his side the lead, noticeably quieter since the opening stages of the game under the watchful eye of Jarrod Theisz.
A huge contest win from James Harrison, elevating his performance with every moment as the game continued, sparked a mini-flurry for Pakenham.
Viaino saluted with a textbook long bomb, before three goals in seven minutes saw Pakenham skip ahead to a 22-point lead midway through the quarter.
Along with Harrison, Barclay was playing a typical captains game, putting his head over the ball where others didn’t and offering surgical incisions with the ball going inside 50 to find leading teammates.
Goals went back and forth in the dying stages of the quarter before Upwey Tecoma’s leading goal kicker Daniel Waters was shown a yellow card after taking a swing at Thompson late in the term.
19 points up at the final break, the next half hour would be a true test of Pakenham’s maturity.
Upwey Tecoma pressed and pressed hard, taking the first three shots on goal of the quarter but for only one major from the boot of Rory Sinclair.
A bizarre moment in which Stewart handballed to Kannemeyer alone in the goalsquare but missed an attempted volley suggested nerves were creeping into the Lions’ psyche, on the precipice of something truly exciting.
Another Tigers goal, quickly followed by Porcaro’s fourth, cut the margin to just three points, both teams’ seasons suddenly on a knife’s edge.
In need of a calm head, Harrison stepped up to the plate, winning himself a free kick after putting his head over the ball, and being taken high in a tackle, 30 metres out on a slight angle.
In the second quarter he had missed a shot from almost exactly this spot on the ground, but when his side needed it, there was no mistaking his second opportunity, pushing the lead back to 10 points.
Waters returned from his enforced spell on the bench to snap a goal late, returning the game to just a three-point deficit, as the Tigers pushed to keep their season alive.
Finals football more than anything has taught us that whilst you may not have had your best day as a player, there’s always the possibility of having a defining moment.
Power had been quiet for much of the afternoon in his first senior game, but a defiant tackle in the dying stages when his side needed it was as good a contribution as he could have wanted to make.
Stewart grabbed the resulting ground ball and found Thompson deep in a pocket, who kicked truly to put the Lions back up by nine points.
A sloppy Tigers tackle on Thompson minute later allowed him to kick the sealer, before a final contribution after the siren to put the final margin at 19 points.
In jubilant scenes post game, Green beamed with pride over what his players produced, having harnessed a ‘nothing to lose’ mentality.
“We finished fourth and spent most of the year out of five, and we got in (to the five) fairly late,” he said.
“It’s a free hit for us, no one expected us to be here and we won our first elimination final.
“We hadn’t spoken about finals footy because we didn’t know what was going to happen in the last couple of weeks. It was disappointing, the way we played against Olinda, but the expectations from people outside the footy club was that we were going to struggle, having lost a lot of players during preseason.
“There were no expectations, we just wanted to play to the best of our ability and play finals.
“These guys are going to learn a lot out of it, being a young side.”
Green said there was no panic on the interchange bench when the margin ballooned early, having seen this movie once or twice before throughout 2023.
He hopes the lessons his boys were taught on Saturday will stick with them for this season and beyond, as they look to repeat the feats of what those on the coaches panel did during their playing days.
“We’re fortunate that myself, ‘Jock’ (Michael Holland), Tom O’Loughlin, all have premierships at the Pakenham Football Club,” Green said.
“There’s no one in this side who has a premiership in senior footy, bar Jimmy Harrison at Berwick in 2017.
“It’s more about embracing the opportunity to play finals footy. It doesn’t come around very often.
“It was disappointing last year to miss out against Monbulk, so we’re here now, and enjoy the next week.
“We’ve got nothing to lose. We’ll enjoy this week and recover well, and ff we play to the best of our ability, we’ll give it a shake.”
Koby Grass and James Harrison both played arguably their best games of the season, as did Samuel Kors, while Kannemeyer kicked four to lead the way up front.
Porcaro matched him for Upwey Tecoma, with Sinclair, Glenn Costas and Leam Beacom among the Tigers’ most influential.
