Tough days at the office don’t come much tougher than that one for the young Brunswick team against top-of-the-ladder Hampton Rovers at their Bayside fortress.

On a beautiful afternoon for footy, the home side put on an exhibition in a blistering first quarter. The NOBs’ defence was under siege and won their share of the ball, but on the counter-attack unfortunately couldn’t penetrate the wall set up by the Rovers across the centreline.

The second term brought a much better defensive effort, led by the improving Ben Wilson, reliable skipper Danny King and hard-running Lewis White. Under 19 midfielder Luca Vlassopoulos also showed plenty of talent and a willingness to have a dip in just his second senior game.

The second half didn’t get any easier, as the bigger bodies of the opposition caused us to regularly turn the ball over and, with superior kicking skills, they made us pay.

Dom Sullivan was again a livewire in the forward line, while Chris Gavaghan and Jed Carey also looked to present as targets. The problem we had was hitting them.

Back at home this week we face Therry on a big day for the Club as we hold our first matchday function for 2018. A much more competitive effort is expected, as our youngsters look to keep developing. See you at Gillon Oval on Saturday, starting with the Under 19s at 9.20!