Well now, Saturday was an eventful day, wasn’t it? Not only for the obvious upset election result but also the inaugural “Clash of the Gryphons” between Brunswick NOBs and Glen Eira which produced not one but two extraordinary games of footy on a beautiful day at Gillon Oval.

For starters, we had the reserves who were continuing their own fine form with an emphatic display that saw them seven goals up five minutes into the final term, before Glen Eira came from the clouds with six straight majors and threatened to steal the win. But we managed to hold on, just.

We were all catching our breath after that frantic finish when the Glen Eira seniors got the jump on us in a game we had gone into expecting to continue our recent hot run and it was 4.1 to 1.2 after 15 minutes. There followed quite an amazing period, as we slammed on 6.0 to 2.2 to take an unlikely lead at quarter-time. In an old-fashioned shoot-out, both forward lines were on top. Dom Sullivan and Snowy Adkins did the business for the home side, with three and two goals respectively. Indeed, each of them kicked goals in the final 50 seconds of the term which would prove pivotal in the end.

We then continued the blitz of goals in the second quarter, piling on another 6.0 to extend our lead to 40 points. Sullivan added another three of his own to spearhead a run of 12 goals without a miss. The Gryphons showed that wouldn’t go away, though, with the last two majors of the half.

Unsurprisingly, after resuming from the main break the players from both sides started to feel the effects of a frantic first-half in the 20-degree heat and the game became more of a struggle. Glen Eira slotted the opening goal after seven minutes to close the gap, before we went on another run of three majors in four minutes to restore what appeared to be match-winning lead of 38-points by the 15-minute mark. The first two of those goals were Dancing Dom Sullivan specials, one a half-volley pick-up and snap over-the-shoulder and the other a soccer from the angle. Snowy snagged the other.

But the game was far from over, as Glen Eira proceeded to dominate the game for the latter part of the third term of the whole of the last. Fortuitously for us, though, they kept missing shots and could only manage 4.9 for their efforts. It was a Snowy goal against the run-of-play with six minutes remaining that would prove to be the sealer after the margin had been reduced to a kick. Make no mistake, we got out of jail in the end as some of the shots missed by the visitors were absolute gimmes.

It was a funny game of footy. There was the brilliant run of 12 straight goals in the first half, but a horrible last quarter when all run evaporated and Glen Eira were all over us through the middle of the ground. We were missing our key defender in Mick O’Donoghue (hamstring) and young gun Francis Evans (to the Calder Cannons), while Nick Burgin and Jed Carey were well held, which provides some explanation for the mixed performance. But we did take the four-points to make it five consecutive victories.

Sullivan was clearly the best player on the ground with his eight goals the difference. He even went down back late to steady the ship. Snowy was also a key with his five majors. Ben Wilson was excellent in the midfield and Matt Brown imposed himself on the contest when the game was up for grabs. JP Perez and Liam Whelan were again great contributors and are proving to be very reliable players for us.

We look to make it six-in-a-row next week against Hawthorn away in another first-time clash. See you there.