A round one bye followed by a round two, one-goal defeat against arch rivals Darley, has North Ballarat in an unfamiliar position of winless heading into round three of the Ballarat Football Netball League A Grade season, but the Roosters will be hoping to change that when they travel to Melton on Saturday.
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It was a quintessential North Ballarat versus Darley clash last weekend, and you could have almost predicted a one-goal margin given the two results in the home-and-away season last year, also being one goal to each side.
This weekend, the Roosters will search for that spark which has taken a while to get going against a side that is sure to throw up some new tricks.
Melton last weekend were outstanding hanging in against Sebastopol, falling just two goals short, having drawn level in the last quarter.
After a disappointing loss to Melton South in the opening game, the Bloods fought back hard last week with Kimberley Phillips leading the charge under the net with 28 goals from 36 attempts.
It was a slightly different looking North Ballarat team which took tot he court last week but with twin towers Maddy Selmon and Poppy Douglass in attack, they still loom as the team to beat this season, despite the opening round loss.
In other games, the clash between Melton South and Redan looks set to be a close encounter with both sides showing some decent signs in the opening two weeks.
Redan, while no match for Sunbury in the first round, picked itself up well with a strong 21-goal win over Ballarat in round two, while Melton South had a great first-up win over Melton, before falling short against Sunbury.
Given the margin to Sunbury was around 20 goals for both teams, this looks set to go down to the wire.
The Saturday night clash also looks set to be a close one with East Point and Sebastopol starting the season as likely finalists.
East Point were more than competitive against one of the competition powerhouses in Darley in the opening round, going down by 10 goals, while Sebastopol has had to go through two thrillers, a two-0goal loss to Lake Wendouree and a two-goal win Melton.
Again, this game looks set to go right down to the wire with very little separating the sides on paper.
Darley should be too strong for Bacchus Marsh in the other contest, but the Cobras are showing some decent signs this season, but the Devils look to be a bridge too far at this stage of their development.
On Thursday, Lake Wendouree produced a big performance in getting the result against Ballarat.
The Lakers were in control for the majority of the contest and with the goalers hitting their mark, were able to produce a big 59-33 win.
Both goalers, Addison Funcke, 38 goals at 77 per cent, Alice Suhan 21 goals at 84 per cent, were on target throughout the contest, giving the mid-court plenty of confidence to go to work in a strong result for the Lakers.
It's three-from-three for Lake Wendouree, with a blockbuster against North Ballarat scheduled for the next round.
