Ferndale Park is such a nice place to visit. Towering gums sit on gentle grassed slopes which surround a quaint oval and the locals are very hospitable, but it should come with a warning to teams travelling from the mean streets of the inner north: “Be aware of annoying fast-moving creatures buzzing up and down the ground” (and not just the bees); as unfortunately Brunswick NOBSPC again fell victim to St Mary’s Salesian on their own postage stamp, failing to combat the home side’s game style and superior use of the ball in the forward-half.

Perhaps it was the absence of the hoped-for rain to make the game more of an in-close struggle, but the lads in purple were decidedly lethargic early on, conceding the first five goals before finishing the first quarter with two late majors. This flowed onto a period of domination for much of the second term, when we closed the margin to 10 points without getting true reward for effort. Then the tide turned back to the home side, and how. Four unanswered goals before half-time was followed by a crushing third quarter when the Saints’ forwards were rampant against our hapless defenders. To the credit of the players they fought very hard in the last quarter to avoid a blow-out.

On a difficult day at the office, a number of players battled hard over four quarters, notably new recruits Geremie Ganino, Chris Arman and Luke Johnson, veteran Chris Ford (with 4 goals), bigmen Scott Thomas and Matt Shannon, and the consistent Todd Cleary and Danny King.

The debut of another Brunswick Junior in Daniel Mott at the age of 15 also needs to be recognized. Daniel is a player of great promise and has already represented Victoria and Australia in junior sides and we all hope to see him go on to play at the highest level. Playing for the first time at senior level, Daniel was an excellent contributor until tiring late. It is just very exciting to see our talented kids coming through!

We return home next week to meet PEGS and hope to see plenty of supporters there as we renew an old neighborhood rivalry!