Freshened up after a week off, the sixth-placed Panthers face premiership contender Lake Wendouree at Wendouree Reserve.

Melton South was travelling well after a promising start, but four losses in its past five outings has the heat right on it and joint coaches Brendan Fevola and Sean Triplett need to find something extra quickly.

East Point and Melton are breathing down the Panthers’ neck.

East Point is one of the form teams of the competition and if the Kangaroos get over the Bloods at MacPherson Park they could move into sixth.

That would complete a remarkable turnaround given East Point, which was on the bottom after four rounds with just a draw to its name.

Redan will be at home to Darley, with the Lions eager to claim a win over one of the big three – something they are yet to do.

East Point 14.10 (94) d  Bacchus Marsh 13.16 (94)

East Point and Bacchus Marsh shared the points in the Ballarat Football League at the Eastern Oval on Saturday.

However, there was still the feel of winners and losers, with the Cobras coming short of expectations and East Point continuing to move forward.

Bacchus Marsh is now two points behind Darley and Lake Wendouree in third position, while the Kangaroos have edged to seventh after their second draw of the season –  they also drew with Ballarat in round one – to be within one win of the top six.

The outcome also continued the drought for Bacchus Marsh against East Point at the Eastern Oval, with the Cobras having been without a home and away win at the ground in 15 years.

The signs looked ominous early on for East Point with Bacchus Marsh kicking the first six goals of the day to hold a commanding 42 point advantage at quarter time. 

With Jarrah Maksymow heading up a potent forward line, it looked like East Point was in for a difficult afternoon.

This all changed in the second term though when East Point turned the tables with eight goals to one.

Bacchus Marsh coach Travis Hodgson described the “lack-lustre” quarter as the catalyst for missing out on a win.

He said the Cobras had their chances, particularly in the last term, but just could not get over the line in a day with plenty of emotions. 

Kangaroos coach Jake Bridges pointed to many positives from a performance in which they worked their way back into the contest. 

“We looked at the way we wanted to play and our key performance indicators, and were able to achieve most of them. 

“As long as the boys are clear on what they need to work on, we can keep moving forward,” he said. 

With the Peel Street end of the Eastern Oval being the overwhelming constant for scoring, many would have been excused for thinking that the Cobras would bounce back in the third term kicking to that end.

East Point worked hard to create a dour struggle though, keeping the highly fancied Bacchus Marsh within 16 points at the last change.

It all went down to a fascinating final quarter with the Kangaroos storming home with five goals to two.

Bryson McDougall playing an effective role up forward with five goals for East and Maksymow also finished with five.

Having picked up 14 premiership points in its past five games, East Point has a real chance to press for a top six berth with a 50-50 battle with Melton followed by a bye and Ballarat.

Darley 15.11 (101) d Ballarat 14.10 (94)

Darley walked away with the premiership points against Ballarat in the Ballarat Football League at Darley on Saturday.

As far as coach Heath Scotland was concerned though, that was one of the few positives the Devils took out of the seven-point win.

The Swans finished by the far the better with eight of the last 10 goals of the game, including seven majors in the final quarter.

Although on the wrong side of the ledger, it was unquestionably Ballarat’s best performance of the season.

While for Darley, Scotland left no doubt it was the competition leader’s worst.

Such was his ire with the outing Scotland, who coached from the sidelines owing to a hamstring injury, he took players behind closed doors immediately after the match.

There were no post-match celebrations or singing of the club song to mark the victory, with supporters locked out of the clubrooms.

Scotland said it had been a players’ call not to sing the song.

Darley controlled the first half, largely through onballer Brian Graham and key forward Kyle Docherty, who although inaccurate in front of goal was dominant, to lead by 39 points.

Ballarat changed the complexion of the encounter in the third term with a complete transformation to take over the centre break clearances and contests.

They broke even on scoreboard for the quarter and then ran all over Darley.

Scotland saw the danger signs at the last change – deploring his players’ effort and setting them the task of going man-on-man after questioning the value they put on the defensive side of their game.

Ultimately, two goals going into time-on in the last quarter enabled to stop Ballarat’s momentum enough for Darley to hold on. 

Scotland said while not wanting to take anything away from Ballarat  – “they exposed us” – the Devils needed players to get “dirty” with work rate and it had not happened. He said a point needed to made that they had fallen away since the first four to five rounds.

Swans coach Shane Hutchinson, who battled through illness, was full of praise for his players’ second half. “We played phenomenal football. We can see the development we’re making.” 

He was equally frustrated by a sluggish start, emphasising a need to examine game day preparation.

Ruckman Marcus Powling was dominant in leading a winning midfield of Nick and Will Garner, and Hutchinson. Nick O’Farrell capped it off with five goals.

Sunbury 11.8 (74) d North Ballarat City 6.14  (50)

Sunbury had to dig deep to keep a determined North Ballarat City at bay in the BFL at Clarke Oval on Saturday.

The Lions only took a hold on the game midway through the last quarter – eventually working out a 24-point win.

Sunbury has now won four games on end, and with a bye next round and strong percentage is now firmly entrenched in the top six.

“It was a tough day at the office,” Sunbury coach Ben Jordan said as he reflected on what described as an “ugly” game.

He was pleased with the way Sunbury fought it out and the response it provided after North Ballarat City threw down the gauntlet with highly competitive pressure.

He said in the end he believed better efficiency helped the Lions over the line, as well as change up in attack late in the game after becoming too predictable going forward.

Ruckman David Kovacevic, who finished with two goals, provided a variation by drifting forward to help catch out North City.

Jordan said he believed Sunbury was 10-15 percent off its game early, while North Ballarat was certainly up and about.

Although not hitting the scoreboard as often as an inaccurate City, Sunbury still led by six points at three quarter time and it took a concerted effort to stay in front.

Ben Said has consistently damaging in attack for Sunbury and kicked another four goals, as did Alec Goodson.

The experience of Greg Hay and determination of Nathan Wood and Tom Donoghue were also telling factors for the Lions.

North Ballarat, which has just one win, was best served again by the likes of Daniel Jones and Simon McCartin, while Tom Hotchin again made the most opportunity he is being given.

Redan 12.16 (88) d Sebastopol 7.16 (58)

Redan did enough in two quarters to stave off a promising effort by Sebastopol in the BFL at Marty Busch Reserve on Saturday.

The winless Burra out-scored the Lions in the opening term and again in the last, but still came up 30 points short.

Redan added 10 goals while keeping Sebastopol to one in the second and third quarters, and that was the difference to further consolidated the Lions in the top six.

Sebastopol coach Shane Snibson was highly encouraged by the way it started and finished, and believed with the opportunities it had should have finished closer.

He said it was one of the Burra’s better efforts of the season, with young tall Toby Hutt again prominent with Lochie Huppatz and Ben Hutt.

Mitch Phelps was again a go-to player in attack with four goals, while Dean Mathews was major linkman through the midfield.

Veteran ruckman Orren Stephenson was again in the wars, getting through only half a game before he struck back trouble.