Sport / Football
Gallant NOBs fall short in high octane match
Brunswick NOBs 14.10 (94) lost to Kew 17.14 (116) at Victoria Park
Tim Purdey
UNDER sunny skies at Victoria Park on Saturday, Kew got the early jump on Brunswick, which proved to be decisive as the game became a fast-paced shoot-out with goals aplenty on both sides, with the Bears eventually holding on to win by 22 points.
Without a breath of wind throughout the day, it was thought that kicking uphill might be a disadvantage, but the home side soon put that theory to rest by slamming on three goals inside the opening five minutes of the match. The NOBs were winning the ball but couldn’t find a target inside 50 until the eight-minute mark when Rowan Hogenbirk marked, then goaled from 35 metres out. With good ball movement, Kew quickly responded with a brace and led by 25 points after only 12 minutes.
Brunswick worked their way back into the contest over the next ten minutes but only had one goal to show for it to Mitch Hicks, who was on the end of a nice transition from halfback, which the Bears again answered, before big Will Kempt stepped up and slotted a beauty from downtown. In a high-energy quarter the ball was pinging from end-to-end with few stoppages and it was Kew who had the final say to stretch their lead to 27 points at the first change.
The NOBs fought back hard in the second term and the ball virtually lived in their forward-half for the first 15 minutes. Goals to Paul Scamporlino (from a good mark 45 out) and Gabe Banova (from a well-earned free) resulted, but in between they racked up five straight behinds which would hurt them as the game progressed.
The Bears finally hit the board after 20 minutes to get back out to a 17-point lead, before Scamporlino worked hard to create another scoring opportunity then finished it off himself with an excellent snap. The margin at half time should have been 11 points but an untimely computer malfunction meant the siren didn’t sound and in the seconds that followed Kew managed to snare a goal after a Brunswick turnover at halfback. It was a case of Murphy’s Law in action, but that was small comfort for the aggrieved visitors.
Kew started the third quarter as they had the first, slamming on the opening three goals to get out to a 34-point lead after nine minutes. Scamporlino responded with his third after a good mark, then Joe Gale was able to run onto a clever kick from Oscar Watt to narrow the margin to 22 points.
Kew replied, but Watt then broke his recent run of misses in front of the big sticks with his first on the run after a handball from Scamporlino. Kew replied again, then Jesse Doherty showed exciting dash from the centre to goal from 45. In a hectic term, the Bears followed with 2.2 to make it a six-goal margin, before Watt kicked his second off-the-ground in the shadows of three-quarter-time.
The final term began as a slow burn, before three Brunswick goals in the space of four minutes narrowed the gap to 13 points after 15 minutes. First, Watt notched up his third from a mark, then Dan Mott kicked truly from 45 and Scamporlino snapped his fourth.
With the blowtorch being applied, the Bears steadied, adding four straight behinds before kicking the sealer at the 23-minute mark. In the dying minutes both sides were tired from such a high-octane contest, but Kew did enough to hold a gallant Brunswick at bay.
Will Kempt played his best game in Brunswick colours, rucking well all day and taking numerous marks. In the forward-line, Joe Gale and Oscar Watt returned to form, while Paul Scamporlino was also a key target. Rowan Hogenbirk was again very good in the midfield and Jackson Browne was impassable in defence.
This Saturday sees the last game of the season at Gillon Oval as the NOBs face fourth-placed Preston in what is sure to be another entertaining contest.
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