Sport / Football
NOBs hold off fast finishing UHS for gritty win
Brunswick NOBs 14.14 (98) defeated UHS-VU 10.13 (73) at Gillon Oval
Tim Purdey
In a game that won’t live long in the memories of those who witnessed it, Brunswick ground out a 25-point win against relegation-bound UHS-VU at Gillon Oval on Saturday.
Under a brilliant blue sky, the NOBs were quick out of the blocks, but missed two early set-shot opportunities, before perfectly constructing the first goal of the day by switching the ball to the Hope Street wing and hitting up Max Varley, who duly converted with a stiff north-westerly breeze at his back.
Brunswick then lost their way – and the lead – over the course of the next 15 minutes before Tom Wilson kicked long with the wind to Jackson Davis in the square to tie the scores.
As the first term progressed so did the set-shot misses, but they were interspersed with a major to Tom Wilson from a free aided by a 50m penalty and a snap from in-close to Zephyr Hooke, to make it 4.7 to 2.4 at quarter-time.
The visitors had the wind in the second quarter but struggled to use it as the NOBs made the running, with Dom Oswald getting on the end of a lucky bounce to goal over the back after five minutes, then following it up soon after courtesy of another Tom Wilson long bomb to the square, before Darcy Heenan slotted his first at the third time of asking.
When Joe Gale marked an errant kick-in and converted from directly in front, the margin was out to 40 points at the 17-minute mark and it looked as though Brunswick might replicate the result of earlier in the year when they won by over 100. However, to Uni High’s credit they refused to lay down and closed the gap to 25 points at half-time.
The third quarter was a tough watch as the NOBs struggled to make headway going forward, until a Gale handball to Tom Wilson created his second major.
The visitors kept on pressing, though, and defensive turnovers led to them again closing to within 25 points midway through the term.
It took another Tom Wilson long kick to the square to Oswald for his third to spark up the home side, with very late majors to Will McKenzie, who floated forward, and Heenan, for his second, extending the lead to a game-high 44 points at the final change.
By the final term the wind had died down, but that didn’t stop Uni High from finishing hard, as the home side ran out of players on the bench.
The visitors kicked the first three goals of the quarter to again make it a 25-point game with plenty of time left, before Davis swooped to snap a classy major then Heenan put through his third to ensure a Brunswick victory. Uni High played the right game out with another two goals to make it an even second half.
Best afield honours were awarded to Joe Gale, who played a lion-hearted game in the midfield. At full back, Whitlam Bishop kept Uni High’s gun forward to just one goal, while Angus Ross had plenty of the ball. Tom Wilson was instrumental to many of the day’s pivotal moments, while Lachlan Pearson provided run on the wing. Zephyr Hooke applied a lot of forward half pressure, while Will McKenzie was again strong across half-back.
This Saturday, in Brunswick’s final home game of the season they face the challenge of Kew, who are fresh from thrashing the previously undefeated Preston to climb to second on the Division 1 ladder.
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