It may have been 5 years between visits to Melbourne High School for Brunswick NOBs but we showed we still had a strong liking for their postage-stamp sized oval by kicking our highest score (153) and recording our biggest win (99) since our previous outing there (which we won 160-80).

Back in 2014, Francis Evans was an under 13 Brunswick Dragon. On Saturday he was a genuine superstar for our seniors, with 8 magnificent goals crowning back-to-back best-on-ground efforts. His clean hands, wonderful balance and incredible kicking point to a stellar career in the making.

That Evans’ main partner-in-crime was another ex-Dragon in Dom Sullivan, who kicked 5 goals of his own and gave one away to a grateful Jed Carey, added to the excitement of our first win for 2019.

The opening term saw Brunswick dominate everywhere but the scoreboard. Yes, we led by 19 points at quarter-time, but it should have been double that. After struggling in the centre the week before against Whitefriars, we won virtually every clearance, led by James Moverley and Nick Burgin. Chris Ford had sticky fingers and, even though he couldn’t nail his set shots, we had 5 individual goal kickers, including Evans.

The second and third quarters weren’t the prettiest to watch. We seemed to have the home team’s measure but struggled to put them away, especially in the latter part of the third term, when MHS actually got on top and missed a number of shots at goal.

To the credit of our players, we came out firing in the final quarter and delivered early goals that broke the spirit of our opponents. From then on it was a celebration as we piled on 13 goals to one. Evans kicked a lazy 4, while Sullivan, Carey and Snowy Adkins also scored multiple majors for the quarter.

It ended up being one of those games where you could name 12 in the best. After Burgin’s hot start, MHS managed to quieten him down but that just opened the door for Ben Wilson to control proceedings through the midfield alongside Big Mov.

The defence was excellent all day, with Mick O’Donoghue and Darcy Heenan leading the way. The continued improvement of Liam Whelan and Tom Wilson was also on display, while newcomer James Octigan impressed with his run off half-back.

We return to Gillon Oval on Saturday the 27th to face Power House as we look to build on this good win. See you there.