By Tyler Lewis
Good kicking is good football.
Pakenham coach Ash Green knows that, as does his star forward Mitch Johnson – who terrorised Officer on Saturday.
Johnson treated the Roos like his name sake treated the Poms as he fired off a remarkable 11 goals.
With a sense of relief after the 22.8 (140) to 4.6 (30) victory over his close-town rivals, Green revealed the most pleasing aspect of Johnson’s display.
“Just the way he presented,” he said.
“Obviously it’s not ideal for him to come in and out all the time… but to be fair (as well), the delivery into the forward line was a lot better this week than previous weeks.
“You give your forwards the best opportunity when the ball is kicked out in space and not on top of their heads – it gives them a good position to take the mark and kick the goal.
“He is with the Southport Footy Club, he played on the weekend previous and they had a bye, so he was available for us.
“I think it’s his fourth game he’s been with us, basically when he’s not with Southport and available, he comes back to Pakenham.”
The Lions kicked 8.1 in the final stanza, with seven off those coming off the bright boots of Johnson.
And after a difficult month of football, Green was extremely pleased with how his side kicked for goal.
“It’s obviously been a bit challenging over the last four or five weeks,” he said.
“To Officer’s credit, I know they’re struggling, but they played some really good footy.
“The key thing for us is we kicked straight, 22.8…30 scoring shots – we have had 30 scoring shots in the past and kicked 10.20, so to kick straight really helped us on the weekend.
“It’s an easy gig (coaching) when players are kicking straight… it’s a funny one, we have been doing a lot of practice being under pressure and kicking goals.
“Most sides would be doing that, but I always tell the guys that if you kick goals early it builds confidence within the team.
“If you start to miss them early, it’ll start to drag on throughout the duration of the game and it just puts a bit of anxiety on the playing group as well.
“We’ll take it mate and we will look forward to the challenge ahead.”
With six matches left in the Outer East Premier Division season, the Lions attain an interesting fixture.
This week Pakenham has Olinda Ferny Creek who – realistically – is in the Lions aspiring finals position.
The game against the Bloods is followed by a pair of very winnable games against Mt Evelyn and Upwey Tecoma, before the Lions close out the season with Wandin, Woori Yallock and Monbulk.
Coach Green is aware of the importance of the next three weeks, to bank wins and in turn mount an assault on the final three before a potential finals campaign.
“I think there is a couple things to that,” he said.
“A…we have a few more games at home, which is really important for us to maximise that.
“B…we’re starting to get some of the guys back – Ben McDonald played on the weekend, our assistant coach back in the twos.
“We’ve got Jake Barclay potentially coming back next game as well, so we’re slowly getting a few of the guys we’ve been really missing over the last six to eight weeks to come back – that’s a great thing.
“We have some really good opposition coming up, Olinda Ferny Creek on the weekend… it’s basically a mini-final for us.
“The destiny is in our hands, and if we play well the scoreboard will look after itself., if it doesn’t, then the pressure is back on us.”
It was a second quarter onslaught that delivered Narre Warren its 10th successive win.
The Pies appeared to be up for a fight at quarter-time, leading by just two straight kicks against fellow finals contender Monbulk.
That script swiftly adjusted however, as Monbulk did it’s best to resemble the witches hats Shane Dwyer places around the centre circle of Kalora Park on a Tuesday night.
The Hawks didn’t win a centre clearance, nor reach their attacking 50 for the best part of 18 minutes in the second term, while the Magpies piled on eight goals.
Dwyer explained just what he said at the first break that led to the overwhelming clearance dominance.
“We spoke about our zones, I think in the first quarter they went coast-to-coast,” he said.
“We just re-enforced that we wanted to protect the middle a bit more and squeeze them out wide, once we forced them out wide it was a lot easier to win the footy back.
“The boys were up for it, they realised that even though we won that first quarter into the breeze, we weren’t overly rapt with it, they lifted, which is what we’ve been able to do a lot this year.”
Among the long list of goal-kickers was Jake Richardson with seven and Will Howe with five. With 12 between them this week and over 70 between them this season, Dwyer praised both of his forwards.
“He (Jake Richardson) has a massive tank, which is really important,” he said.
“Not only is he six foot five, he can get around the ground really well and doesn’t blow up – he’s been super.
“Will is a product of Jesse Davies being injured, because he was actually playing at full-back, last time against Monbulk, and Davies got injured so we moved him forward and he’s been fantastic.
“I think he played as a forward out at the Stingrays a few years ago. We played him back last year knowing he could play forward, once we moved him this year he has taken that with both hands.
“He has a crack at everything, which is pretty good to watch.”
In other matches across Premier Division; Woori Yallock solidified second position with a strong 16.17 (113) to 8.15 (63) win over Wandin.
The Dogs worked their way back into the contest in the second term, but wayward kicking ultimately led to their demise, kicking 3.8 in the second half.
Olinda Ferny Creek, meanwhile, shook off a slow start to storm home with a 18.16 (124) to 9.4 (58) win over Upwey Tecoma.
This weekend looms as a finals taste-tester, as Narre Warren make the toughest trip in Outer East when it travels to Wandin, while Pakenham need a win over Olinda Ferny Creek to keep its finals hopes alive.
