Brunswick bounced back this week against local rival Therry Penola with a much improved performance at Gillon Oval and the final margin was not a true reflection of the competitive nature of the game, with the home side still within a kick-and-a-half until late in the third quarter. In the end, though, it was the experienced Bannisters and Egglestones of Therry who proved to be the difference.

Kicking against the wind in the opening quarter, Brunswick started brightly. Dom Sullivan was on fire up forward and Daniel Mott was enjoying his first opportunity to don the purple-and-white for the season, quickly displaying his usual run and skill. Scores were tight until Therry had a burst of four goals in five minutes late in the term to take a handy lead into the first break.

The second term saw the NOBs play their best footy since round 1. They dominated the inside 50s, contested ball and tackle counts, however, 4.4 to 1.0 wasn’t a true reflection of their effort. While some guilt-edge opportunities were missed, there were many highlights, including classy goals snapped by Sullivan and Aidan Pollock. The defence was also excellent, led by Liam Whelan and Jarrod Bye.

With the game in the balance at half-time, we needed to hold the Therry forwards as they kicked with the wind, which we managed to do for the first 15 minutes, before they broke loose and established a match-winning lead going into the final change.

There were many good performances on the day. In addition to those already mentioned, Nick Burgin in the midfield was our best over four quarters, while Lewis White and Anthony Argento continued their recent run of good form. Captain Danny King and centre-half forward Jed Carey were also good contributors.

Next week will present our young team with another big challenge as they travel to Ormond and we look forward to them building on this promising effort.