The McDonalds Reds dominated sixth placed Melbourne Knights from start to finish for a 2-0 triumph at Morshead Park in round 25 on a chilly Saturday afternoon.

Yet for all Ballarat's influence, it wasn't able to break down a defiant, albeit weary, Knights outfit until late in the second-half.

The home side peppered the goals early on but sent strike after strike straight down the throat of Melbourne keeper Michael O'Farrell.

Paul Harvey, Pat Karras and Dom Swinton all managed to break the defensive lines in the opening stanza but failed to convert in the heat of the moment.

The two sides entered the break locked at 0-0, but the visitors began to wrest back control soon after the resumption of play.

Fears of another heartbreaking loss began to echo through the home crowd before Harvey, as he has done so often this season, finally broke through in the 81st minute via way of a classy Swinton cross.

The star recruit's goal sparked an enormous eruption from the Reds faithful, with the aforementioned sliding on his knees towards the corner post before being engulfed by jubilant teammates.

Bullocking midfielder Sean Harding put any contest to bed three minutes later when he found the back of the net from a Knights defensive blunder.

Ballarat's reaction to such an unlikely victory, given Melbourne's rich vein of form, was that of a team just crowned National Premier Leagues Victoria champions.

The Red Devils' victory chant was shouted out in a thundering fashion post-match, and player manager James Robinson's press conference was every bit as emphatic as Ballarat's dominance on the pitch.

"Tonight's result was about pure determination and desire from the boys," he said.

"To let everyone know we're not giving anything up, we're going in with a fight, we're going to be here right to the very end and give ourselves the best possible chance.

"We left it late on, but we got what we needed and that was three points."

However, Robinson said pressure wasn't a driving factor for the surprise win, and praised Ballarat's strong start against an opposition playing its third match in six days.

"If you let that (pressure) in, it's going to affect your judgement so we leave it be," he said.

"The way we came out of the blocks - we came out here with something to prove.

"Obviously the Melbourne Knights have had a fantastic week in winning the Dockerty Cup but this group of boys just don't give up easy, we could've died down, but we're here for the long run."