The first semi final clash at Bungaree was a nightmare for the Bombers with late withdrawals, injuries and a yellow card. 

Ballan capitalised on Buninyong's woes and swept it aside with clever play and physical contests.

The Bombers were all guns blazing from the first bounce and had a tidy 13-point lead at the first change.

But co-captain and gun forward Sam Turner was hit with a knee injury and didn't play again after the first term.

The Blues piled on five goals in the second quarter and kept the Bombers scoreless. Turnovers were killing Buninyong's forward drive and Ballan's pressure and running play had the scoreboard ticking over.

At half time, the Blues lead by 22 points. By the last change, the margin had blown out to 46 points.

There was a bit of niggle in the third term and Bomber ruckman Anthony Ebery was yellow-carded. He missed part of the third and fourth quarters cooling his heels off the ground.

The Blues' goal-scoring engine room was led by Daniel King, who booted four majors. Geoff Taylor Medallist  Shaun Campbell scored three goals and showed great speed out of the centre. 

Campbell kicked a huge roost from tight on the boundary just before half time. It got a thunderous roar of approval from the Ballan faithful.

The efforts of Aaron Speak, Danny Mullane and Lachlan Herring were rewarded with two goals each.

Sam Hitchings, Marcus Crook and Kyle Doyle finished with plenty of run and had a big influence on the result.

Ned Gilbert, Alex Bomitali, Beau Guest and Adam Scott tried to move heaven and earth to get the Bombers going again, but Buninyong had seized up completely.

Ballan coach Mark Williams gave credit to his boys.

"They went in and got the job done,” he said.

"Our boys came to play today and to their credit they played a good four-quarter effort.”

So how did Williams rate Ballan's chances against Gordon in the preliminary final next week?

"The pressure's not on us. We're going in as the underdogs. Gordon's a good side,” he said.

"We're just going to go in and make the most of our opportunities. Just take it as it comes."

Buninyong joint-coach Jake Bridges pointed out the disappointment the Bombers felt.

"We worked all year and got to play a semi final. But you have to lift through adversity and work better collectively. We just fell away after quarter-time,” he said.

"A few blokes went down which doesn't help.”