The reigning premier put the Bulls squarely on the back foot with 7-263 at the Eastern Oval on Saturday.

And Golden Point did it without any stand-out individual performances.

Captain Josh White, who top scored with 53, said there had been contributions across the board on a wicket which gave the bowlers a little bit.

“It was a solid effort,” he said.

White said the total was even better than first glance given the outfield was not as quick as it usually was.

Golden Point’s effort was not unlike Darley, which reached 8-264 against Ballarat-Redan at Darley on Saturday without anyone reaching a half century – a factor which pleased Lions skipper Heath Pritchard, who knows the importance of depth if they are to play finals this season.

In other games, North Ballarat, 4-97, is on the brink a major upset against Wendouree, 128, at the City Oval, and East Ballarat is 1-15 against Napoleons-Sebastopol, 154, at Russell Square.

Golden Point kept chipping away against Brown Hill, getting to 1-57 with opener Andrew Falkner contributing 25 and 2-123 before losing Simon Ogilvie for 38 after putting on 66 with number three Josh White.

There was an opportunity for Brown Hill at the fall of White with Point at 4-132, but  the home team pressed on – this time through a stand of 85 between Stephen O'Loughlin, 33, and Dan White 51.

This was just the type of innings Golden Point will be consistently looking for from O’Loughlin throughout the season, with him having only played a handful of games in the past few seasons.

Then it was Damian Klein who helped round out the day with an unbeaten 22 as Golden Point improved markedly on its season opening loss to Darley.

Matt McMahon was the workhorse for Brown Hill attack.

He sent down 26 overs to claim 2-69 as the only multiple wicket-taker.

Amal Ranawaka Arachchige made his debut for the Bulls.

Arachchige, who is of Sri Lankan origin and has moved from Sunshine, took 1-53 off 16 overs with his left-arm spin.