Division 4 GF Report, Team of the Year

Jake Morris

North Brunswick, the premier artist of the Division 4 competition for season 2018, have completed their year-long masterpiece in overwhelming fashion, downing a gallant Parkside outfit by 36-points in a fantastic game of football at Garvey Oval. In a history making afternoon for the green and gold, the Bulls put an exclamation mark on their already historic season, claiming their first premiership since 1981, and enter the Division 3 competition after a gruelling 18-year stay in Division 4.

A five-goal to one second quarter was the difference maker in the clash, with the Bulls taking a resounding 41-point lead into the main break, a lead they would refuse to squander. Brendon George was the hero in-front of the big sticks on the day, booting five majors and carrying most of the load up-forward, with his brother Jake George and Michael Salloum combining for just two goals on the afternoon. In just his 10^th game in the Bulls seniors’ side, ruckman Chris Bateman was awarded Best on Ground honours while an unlikely scoring threat in big man Matthew David was next in line, booting two crucial majors and having a huge impact across the ground.

For Parkside, Luciano Logozzo was easily his sides’ best, kicking three, and was an integral part of the Red-Devils run across the park. Michael Romano booted two while Isaac Romano and Matthew Soligo also stood out and put in fantastic performances.

The Red-Devils looked ominous early, booting the first two majors of the afternoon through Luciano Logozzo, with the second of the two coming off a spectacular hanger taken in Parkside’s forward pocket, where he would make no mistake to give Parkside an early 11-point lead. This small advantage was short lived however, as the Bulls scoring prowess began to take shape shortly after. Four majors in a row to end the opening term from Matthew David, Robert Santacroce, Davor Lucevic and Brendon George, as well as goal-saving smother from Lucevic and a touched ball from Justin Fistrovic on the goal-line, gifted the Bulls a 13-point lead heading into quarter time.

The second quarter began very much like the way the first finished, with an incredible goal from North Brunswick livewire Seamus Lynch from the boundary to push it out to a 19-point gap. This was followed by majors from Peter Butler, Jake George, Matthew David and Brandon George, with the only goal from Parkside coming from Michael Romano in a very difficult second stanza. The Bulls forward pressure was immense in this term, forcing error after error from Parkside’s back six, keeping the ball locked away in their forward half for the majority of the term. A healthy 41-point lead saw the Bulls almost have this one wrapped up at the half way mark.

Much like their encounter a fortnight ago, Parkside used their third term to take control of the game and begin their monumental fight back. Unfortunately for the Devils though, it was also the quarter of missed opportunities, with a score-line of 3.7 to 3.3 making it seem their dominance that quarter had left little impact in the grand scheme of things. An early goal to Peter Butler pushed the margin out to 49-points, but goals to Cameron McFadyen, Luciano Logozzo and Michael Romano, as well as the seven behinds in the term, brought the margin to a manageable 30-point deficit. The Red-Devils were in striking distance, but were unable to finish the quarter strongly, allowing Brendon George to kick his fourth after the siren, and push the margin back out to 37-points.

Parkside continued on its spirited fightback early in the final term, booting the first two majors of the quarter through Matthew Soligo and Anthony Waters, reducing the margin to just 24-points and grabbing all of the momentum for what was setting up to be a thrilling final term. But in typical North Brunswick fashion, the Bulls steadied through their big bodies, with Brendon George booting his fifth shortly after, Stephen Monteleone kicking his first and Chris Bateman flexing his muscles in the middle to all but end the Parkside fight back. The always reliable Michael Salloum put the cream on a historic cake when he booted his first at the 25-minute mark to push the margin out to 37-points and celebrations could commence. The Bulls were Premiers after a 37-year drought, and you better believe they were going to savour this one.