Up against Division 1 pacesetters in the form of undefeated Ormond, Brunswick gave an excellent account of themselves in a game that was high on quality, despite the bitterly cold and gusty conditions at Gillon Oval on Saturday, but in the end their forwards weren’t able to capitalise on the work of their gun midfield and fell short by 26 points.

Kicking to the Sydney Road end in the first quarter, which a strong north-westerly wind was favouring, Brunswick’s midfield was immediately to the fore, stringing together several nice passages of play, but scoring goals was proving difficult until Gabe Banova converted a set shot from 35 metres out in the 10th minute. Ormond answered straight away and then the game was played between the arcs for much of the next 15 minutes, before the visitors added a second, then Oscar Watt kicked truly after the siren to give the NOBs the lead, but it should have been more than one point given how well they had played.

The second term told the story of game. For the first 13 minutes there was good quality end-to-end footy played but both sides were struggling to score, then Tom Wilson slotted a classy major from alongside the cricket nets to again give Brunswick the lead, which sparked Ormond into action as they worked out how to attack with the breeze. Four straight goals and a 20-point lead at halftime was the result, which would prove to be decisive on the day.

Brunswick got the early goal they needed at the start of the third quarter through the unlikely source of Will McKenzie roving the pack and snapping from 20 metres, then both sides had a series of misses, before a free to Ormond and an undisciplined 50 metre penalty restored their 20-point lead. In the shadows of the final change, a free to NOBs was converted by Mitch Hicks to bring it back to a manageable 14 points.

By the last term, there was still a breeze to the Sydney Road end, but not the gale of earlier in the match, and when Tom Wilson cleverly goaled from a boundary throw-in in the 10th minute to narrow the margin to nine points there was plenty of self-belief in the Brunswick side. Ormond responded, as they had done day, but then Ben Wilson hit Paul Scamporlino on the chest with a bullet pass 30 metres out directly in front – which was duly converted – and it was again a nine-point margin and game on at the 15-minute mark.

Mirroring the second quarter, Ormond raised their game from that point and added 2.5 to snuff out the NOBs’ challenge, as frustrations grew with questionable umpiring decisions that tended to go against the home side. The final margin wasn’t a true reflection of the closeness of the contest, but by the same token the NOBs can’t afford to continue to concede easy goals late in games.

Brunswick’s midfield again showed it was amongst the very best in the competition with a display that was at times quite dominant, led by Daniel Mott, Fletcher Banfield and Gabe Banova. The defence did well all day, with Whitlam Bishop and Marcus Foti the standouts, while Will McKenzie never stopped trying in the ruck and reminded us that his absence from hereon will be sorely felt. Scamporlino continually presented as a target and was the best of the forwards against a tough opposition defence.

At the halfway mark of the season, Brunswick sit sixth on the ladder with 4-5, but starting with Therry Penola away this week can return to the winners’ list and start a run towards the top four. See you there!