Redan 19.10 (124)
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East Point 7.19 (61)
Bewarned. The Redan Lions are on the prowl in the Ballarat Football League.
Redan was tired and out on its legs when it bowed out in a semi-final last year.
It looked like a number of the Lions’ decorated veterans were being stretched and one wondered where they might stand in the future.
These same players have taken only two rounds in a new season to show they are far from done.
Redan is rejuvenated under coach Brendan Peace and right now looking as impressive as anyone.
While unlucky to lose to Lake Wendouree by a kick in the opening round, the Lions left nothing to chance in crushing East Point by 63 points at the City Oval on Saturday.
Peace was low key about the magnitude of the outcome, but high in his praise of his players, with the defensive pressure too much for East Point to cope with.
The Kangaroos did not kick its first goal – one of two for Billy Watkins – until seven minutes into the second quarter, but by that time Redan had seven on the board and the game in its keeping.
East Point had its share of play, spending almost as much time as Redan in attack, but as coach Jake Bridges reinforced it was all about the quality of possession and the superior delivery of the Lions to the likes of Dean Chester (four goals) and Grant Bell (two goals).
While Redan used a direct path, East Point continually found itself skirting the boundary and kicking to congestion.
The Lions almost had too much depth through the midfield where they rotated the likes of ball magnet Dean Matthews, Liam Hunter, Cal Currie, Hayden Edwards, Liam Hoy, and Bell.
While Matthews was dominant, it was Nathan Horbury at master control for Redan.
He floated across half back and had possessions at will to set the Lions up and running.
Peace said flexibility in the midfield rotation and to its forward set-up were important facets of the Redan game, and would only get better as the team’s cohesion improved.
Bridges said East Point had not been good enough to match Redan.
“You can’t put experience on young shoulders. That’s where we’re at.”
He said much went back to work rate.
Inaccuracy also plagued East Point, but this also related to its use of the football when going forward.
East Point had its moments, often thanks Clay Bilney, Aden Nestor and Daniel Semmens, but there were too few and based too much on chance.
Ballarat 13.16 (94)
North Ballarat City 9.11 (65)
Ballarat Swans have fired the first shot by an outsider across the bows of a potential Ballarat Football League premiership contender.
The Swans sunk North Ballarat City, which was fresh a barnstorming win over boom side Melton South, by 29 points at Alfredton on Saturday night.
North Ballarat went into the second round fixture a firm favourite, but never came to terms with Ballarat’s high intensity-up tempo attack on the ball.
The Swans made their move in the second quarter – jumping away with five goals and then early in the third leading by 26 points.
Will Young had an opportunity to close the gap to nine points midway as North Ballarat was mounting a challenge, but he missed and with an immediate response by Ballarat locked the match away.
While North Ballarat City was a far cry from the form it showed against Melton South just four days earlier, coach Jordyn Burke refused to use the quick turnaround as an excuse.
He said Ballarat was too good.
“Credit where credit is due. We have to respect they were the better side.
“We had our chances. We missed opportunities. We didn’t adjust to the conditions.”
Burke said the outcome reinforced what he believed pre-season that the competition was going to be more even than last year – indicating surprise results could be on the cards at any time.
Burke said while understanding the reasons behind having just four days between games, given the importance of the Anzac Day fixture, it was far from ideal.
He said the club had raised the issue with the BFL when the season fixture was drafted and had been satisfied with the explanation.
However, he hoped similar circumstances would not occur again. Burke said player welfare needed to be taken into consideration when it came to recovery time.
Ballarat coach Shane Hutchinson was rapts with the effort of his young team, which after an opening round draw is undefeated. He said wins like this could set up a season.
Hutchinson said the Swans had hit North Ballarat hard and full of running and other than a stint in the third term had been able to maintain it.
While Hutchinson was outstanding on the ball, defenders Sam James and Scott Wood were linchpins for the Swans in shutting down spearheads Derrick Micallef and Will Young, who had kicked a combined 12 goals against the Panthers.
Young key forward Tom Conroy kicked four majors for the Swans in a strong aerial display and Matthieu Brehaut booted three goals on debut.
Darley 13.11 (89)
Melton 8.11 (59)
Two Darley recruits face suspension after being reported in a 30-point win over Melton in the BFL at Melton on Saturday.
Devils coach Heath Scotland said Chris Graham and Jay Pearson had each been offered one-match suspensions after related incidents in the third quarter.
Melton coach Brady Murphy frustratingly the Bloods had not kicked a goal while Graham and Pearson had been off together for 15 minutes after being shown yellow cards even though they improved their effort.
Darley put the game away in the first half to lead by 36 points. Melton rallied, but the margin was too much to bridge.
Murphy said the winless Bloods were a repeat offender when it came to slow starts and it continued to hurt them.
Scotland said while the match had trended to drop off, Darley had done more than enough to secure the game before Melton lifted and found something extra when down to 16 players.
Lake Wendouree 17.18 (120)
Sebastopol 4.12 (36)
Lake Wendouree onballer Nick Peters has been cleared of serious injury after hitting a fence against Sebastopol at Wendouree on Saturday night.
While Lakers ran away with the match by 84 points, the outcome for Peters was equally good news.
There were initial fears there might have been some rib damage in the first half incident.
He was taken to hospital, but club president Dave Clifton confirmed Peters had been cleared of any internal injuries although undoubtedly feeling tender.
Lake Wendouree remains unbeaten and joins Melton South and Darley on two wins after two full rounds.
Lakers swamped Sebastopol with five goals to none in the first term and carried on to lead by 55 points at half-time.
There was no coming back from there for the Burra, although Sebastopol coach Shane Snibson remains positive.
He said the visitors had the better start, but were unable to kick a goal in a short period of domination.
In contrast, Lake Wendouree was able to hurt Sebastopol on the scoreboard with quality entries into its 50m.
Snibson summed it up succinctly: “They were too classy...more polished.”
He said the more his younger players tasted this level of football, the better they would be.
James Richards looks likely to miss next round after suffering a hip flexor injury.
Sebastopol is preparing for its biggest home game in many years, with the first game on the redeveloped Marty Busch Reserve number one oval under lights on Saturday night.
The Kookaburras take on Melton South, with the BFL’s biggest drawcard Brendan Fevola making his appearance in Ballarat.
Bacchus Marsh 16.12 (108)
Sunbury 10.10 (70)
Bacchus Marsh resisted a third quarter fight back to fend off Sunbury by 38 points in a Ballarat Football League grand final rematch at Maddingley Park on Saturday.
In a contest of twists and turns, Sunbury charged at the Cobras after being goalless in the first half.
The Lions turned it on with five goals in 15 minutes to loom within 10 points, only for Bacchus Marsh to steady and restore scoreboard pressure with seven of the next eight goals..
Jarrah Maksymow was again a focal point in attack with five goals for the Marsh.
Bacchus Marsh coach Travis Hodgson highlighted the importance of his side implementing a forward press in quelling the influence of Sunbury playmaker Adam Short – , a player he holds in the highest of regard.
Sunbury coach Ben Jordan was left lamenting the poor start.
“We didn’t take the game on enough early and we didn’t really string any decent ball movement together early.
“The pressure Bacchus Marsh put us under early was extraordinary and we pretty much succumbed to that in the end.
“We had some chances in the first quarter and butchered the ball, and from there on our confidence falls away a bit,” he said.
The match had a scrappy start, with only one goal kicked in the first term, but it was clear from the outset that the Cobras’ marquee recruit and new assistant coach Scott Sherlock was going to have major influence.
Bacchus Marsh clicked into gear in the second term, adding five goals to set up a commanding 38-point lead.
The margin was even greater considering Sunbury had failed to kick a major.
A rejuvenated Sunbury hit to the field in the third term with the opening five goals.
Ben and Josh Guthrie both lifted for the Lions, providing run out of the midfield, while also being able to hit the scoreboard.
Ben Said continued his impressive start to the season, ending up with four goals.
The Sunbury revival was short lived though as Bacchus Marsh was able to build on its 20-point three quarter time advantage.
Maksymow was again highly effective forward for the Cobras, while Daniel Burton and Declan Phyland also looking playing dangerous role.
Sunbury has produced some promising form, but the patchy nature of it means the Lions sit on one win in three games and now find themselves behind the eight ball. The Cobras sit one and one.