A game that started brightly enough for Brunswick with six first quarter goals against bottom-of-the-ladder Ivanhoe had a devastating conclusion as we were overrun by a more desperate home side on Saturday at Ivanhoe Park.

Kicking to the scoring end in the first term, we missed a number of chances before Jarryd “Prez” Browne, coolly slotted one from an angle. The game then developed into something of a shoot-out, with both sides trading goals, until two late majors gave us the lead. Jed Carey and Geremie Ganino both had multiple shots for the quarter, snagging a couple of goals each.

It is hard to describe the second quarter, other than to say Brunswick’s cue went in the rack. All run off half-back evaporated as Ivanhoe bombarded their goals. Their return of 3.9 and another three on-the-full exemplified their desperation for a win, but lack of class. We did not trouble the scorers, with a handful of shallow forward entries quickly repelled.

Our attempts to right the ship in the third term were haphazard. We managed to score 3.5 to 2.5, but there was no real cohesion to our play. Too much was being left too few, particularly Carey in attack, Nick Burgin and Ben Wilson in the midfield and the experienced Ganino and Jayden Tilbrook.

With the wind dropping by three-quarter time, a nine-point deficit was well within reach and for the first part of the final term we pressed hard, closing the gap to three points. But horrible kicking cruelled our chances to take the lead, before the Hoers – with the sniff of a first victory in their nostrils – ran over the top of us with four of the last five goals of the game.

On a busy day for defenders, Anthony Argento, Lewis White and Brothers Whelan & Bye kept trying, but the fact Ivanhoe had 37 scoring shots against us was an indictment on the defensive efforts of our forwards and midfielders.

Hampton Rovers at Gillon Oval this Saturday will be a tougher assignment. Come and support our young team as they look to rediscover the form they showed in the previous home game against Oakleigh.