By DAVID NAGEL
Narre Warren 19.15 (129) d Pakenham 9.14 (68)
IF BAD kicking is bad football then Pakenham produced one of the most horrid quarters of footy imaginable on its way to a 10-goal loss to Narre Warren at Fox Road on Saturday.
Pakenham took control in the third quarter but shot itself in the foot, kicking 2.9 to 2.2 to allow the Magpies to take a nine-point lead into the final term.
The Lions had 65 per cent of the play and should have at least been two-goals clear at three-quarter-time.
But should haves and could haves mean nothing in football, the Magpies showing their power with a clinical 9.6 to 1.2 finish to the match.
Narre had the better of a quality first stanza of play and built their way to a 28-point lead, just two minutes before half-time, before late goals to debutant Michael Puts and Steve O’Bryan changed the complexion of the match.
The Lions came out breathing fire in the third, an enlightening stretch of play that showed the all-conquering Magpies do have their frailties.
Led by Kym Jones in the ruck, Pakenham started to run, Dom Paynter, Russ Lehman, O’Bryan and youngsters Sam Blackwood and Troy Toussaint found plenty of space… an unusual occurrence against the Magpies.
“Take nothing away from Pakenham, they were fantastic, but experienced players should be able to read the game and that was the most disappointing aspect of the third quarter,” Narre coach Chris Toner said.
“(Kym) Jones was dominating the ruck, he had the one hit that went forward every time and they were beating us to the punch.
“They beat us off the line and got to the ball first, we made uncharacteristic errors and brought the ball in far too early… there are a lot of things we did we need to brush up on.”
It’s a clear sign of Narre’s dominance that a 10-goal victory is being written up in the style of an obituary.
They responded in tremendous style though the champs.
Quick goals to last year’s grand final heroes, Justin Marriott and Dylan Quirk, started a 15-shot at goal onslaught from the home side that put the issue beyond the doubt.
Ben Wragg and Michael Collins provided the drive but it was the work of first-gamer Liam Myatt that was most impressive.
Myatt produced two quality finishes in the final term to finish with three for the afternoon, complementing the five and four goal hauls of Kerem Baskaya and Wragg respectively. Stewie Scanlon provided the last-quarter highlight with a brilliant running goal while Lehman topped the charts with three goals for the visitors.
