Power House claim their throne to Division 3 supremacy

The stage was set at Preston City Oval last Sunday afternoon for Power House and North Brunswick to battle it out to see who would be crowned the Division 3 Men’s Senior Premiers for 2025.

Coming into the match, Power House, who had led the competition for every round bar one and had the week off heading into the Grand Final having won the Semi Final, were the favourites to win as they have been all season.    

But with the Bulls having beaten them before in the regular season, anything was possible.

North Brunswick would get off to a better start as they were able to generate the first inside 50 for the match and had the first shots at goal, which fell wide and short of the mark.

From those chances, the ladder leaders were able to transition the ball outside of their defensive 50 with ease, which saw Matt Auchettl convert the opening goal in Power House’s favour.

Auchettl followed up his previous work with another short-ranged effort to double the lead, while Matthew Chisari extended it out to 18 points, helping reinforce the tone that Nick Cox’s men wanted to set for this clash.

Power House continued to generate scoring opportunities with the ball remaining in the forward half for the remainder of the quarter.

But after not being able to miss for their first three scores, they kicked eight consecutive behinds to lead by 26 points.  

Having been unable to score from the momentum they had at the start of the match, the Bulls, for only the second time in their previous 80 quarters of football this season, were left scoreless.

In all the imagined scenarios for the match, there would have been very few that had the Bulls scoreless in the first quarter. But now, finding themselves in unfamiliar territory, North Brunswick needed to find a way to get back in the game.

The second quarter started with Power House kicking a behind as they extended their streak to nine in a row.

However, following that, it became a defensive battle, with neither side able to score on the other for the majority of the quarter.

That deadlock was then broken in the 17th minute by the Bulls, who had finally managed to hit the scoreboard with a point of their own. And like Power House, their score would also double within the space of a couple of minutes.

Before the half was finished, the boys in green, white and black would match the Bulls to lead by 27 points going into the main break.

While they had scored only two points for the half, North Brunswick was very much in the game but would need a great start to help cut the margin in the third. 

Unfortunately, it would not be the case with Power House securing the game by kicking six goals with their first seven scoring shots of the third to push the lead out of reach and all but secure the premiership.

The fourth quarter would be more even with the Bulls scoring their first goal for the entire game, but it was not enough to turn over their lead as Power House claimed their first premiership since 2006.

Co-captain Benjamin Circosta would be named best on ground for his performance in what has been a stellar season in the midfield.

Having been the best team all season, Power House are now able to claim a deserved win in arguably their best performance all season, having kept the Bulls to their lowest score all season.

While North Brunswick will be disappointed with the way they finished, there is still some positive news for them; they will be promoted to Division 2 next season alongside Power House, with both teams keen on maintaining that status beyond 2026.