Brunswick put up a fight at John Pascoe Fawkner Reserve on Saturday but Therry Penola’s gun full forward Jarrod Bannister was a one-man wrecking ball, kicking 12 goals, as we went down by 40 points.

With a strong westerly wind blowing, it was a good toss for the home side to win and a couple of quick goals to them made Brunswick supporters nervous, but then we started to win the ball and had a number of forward entries of our own, even if we couldn’t get reward for effort on the scoreboard. Late goals against the run of play were disappointing, but a four-goal margin at quarter-time was certainly manageable.

The second term had everything. After Bannister kicked a couple early against the breeze to extend Therry’s lead, Brunswick clicked into gear. Led by mid-fielders Ben Wilson, Geremie Ganino and Chris Gavaghan, we went long and direct to the forward line, where Club Co-President Jarryd Browne – in for his first game of the season – and our Big V squad member Nick Burgin were particularly lively. We put enormous pressure on Therry’s defence and the result was we had seven goals on the board – and the lead – by 19-minute mark, and it looked as though we would be the team in front at halftime.

But football is a funny game. Soon after we took the lead, we had a guilt-edged chance to kick our eighth major, but blew it. The ball went down the other end and seemed to stay there for the next 10 minutes or so, as Therry went on a scoring spree of their own. Before anyone knew it, we were 26 points down, 14 goals had been kicked for the quarter and Bannister had seven of his own at the main break.

We did a good job defending against the wind in the third term, again conceding only four goals, but our horrible lapse of concentration at the end of the first half meant we faced an eight-goal deficit at the final break and, while we did a good job to win the last quarter, this defeat left a bitter taste because we didn’t do ourselves credit on the day.

There were a number of good individual performances on the day. Ben Wilson had his best game for the Club. Burgin showed his versatility in spending time forward and kicking three goals. Given more opportunities up the field, Gavaghan was excellent, as was Ganino. Michael Iacobaccio and Lewis White continue to develop as defenders. And special mention must made of Browney, who is the first president to kick two goals for the Club for a number of decades!

This week we face Kew at Gillon Oval in a very winnable game. See you there.