A resurgent Ivanhoe turned the tables on Brunswick NOBSPC from their earlier meeting this season at Gillon Oval on Saturday, which could be seen as a gauge of the effect injuries to key players has had on the home side.

The story of the day was that the effort was there but the ability to hit targets was not.

Nevertheless there were a number of positives to take out of the game, starting with continued sparkling form of Chris Ford, who was on fire in the first quarter with three goals and remained our most threatening forward.

We also saw three players make their debuts, all of whom showed they were going to make good senior footballers, with two – James Schmidt and Nick Kelly – named in our best players.

Best on the day was rover George Hartney, who also kicked a ripping solo-effort goal. The consistent Geremie Ganino was again prominent while other good contributors were Danny King, Matt Dickson and Brett Sheehan.

Preston away will present a challenge but if we bring our best effort we are a real chance to cause an upset.