BFNL REVIEW | Darley, North and Sunbury all impressive as East kicks a cricket score

For a quarter-and-a-half, the unbeaten Ballarat took it right up to the Devils, but with an opposition as polished as the Devils, any lapses were always going to prove costly.

It was only the odd moment here and there that separated the sides, but when you looked at the scoreboard at half-time, Darley had a five goal lead.

And unlike where they faded against Bacchus Marsh the week before, there was absolutely no chance of it happening again as the Devils controlled the second half to win 18.11 (119) to 8.7 (55).

Darley coach Dan Jordan said he felt his side was getting back to its best football after a middling start to the year.

"It was a bit more like us I think for longer," he said. "I was liking what I was seeing early, even they got an early goal from a free kick.

"I felt we were able to ground them down throughout the game and capitalise late in quarters. It tended to be a bit of an arm wrestle for the first 15 minutes of each quarter and then it would break our way and we were able to get some opportunities.

"The second quarter was pretty tough, but we were able to stick at it, put some pressure on late and kick away."

Jordan said the team had spoken at half time about the importance of maintaining the rage in the second half and not slipping like it did the previous week, adding he was pleased with the way the team responded and kicked away.

Ballarat coach Chris Maple said he felt his side wasn't too far away, but agreed his team had been outgunned.

"I haven't seen any stats as yet, but I'm sure they would have won the contested ball, they were really good around the stoppages and clearance side of things, particularly at centre bounce," he said.

"But I thought there were some real positive signs for us, we should have been in front at quarter time, but the area for improvement is going to be how we keep our concentration levels up late in quarters.

"Darley had a pretty good day, I'm not sure if it's a true indication of where we are at, I think we're better

Darley 4.2, 9.3, 14.8, 18.11 (119) d Ballarat 3.2, 4.4, 5.4, 8.7 (55)

GOALS: (Darley) B Myers 4, L Spiteri 4. J Cadman 2, H Inglis 2, W Johnson 2, A Azzopardi, B Bewley 1, D Bishop 1, B Wright 1 (Ballarat) A Hooper 2, F Perkins 2, Z Rinaldi 2, J O'Brien 1, B Wardley 1 BEST: (Darley) L Spiteri, B Bewley, M Denham, L Baker, J Fawcett, H Inglis (Ballarat) A Bade, L Rinaldi, W Squires, A Hooper

Sunbury has given Bacchus Marsh a lesson in what it take to be a top side, dominating for most of the contest to record a 53-point win, giving themselves the perfect preparation for a blockbuster next week against North Ballarat

It was a complete four-quarter performance from the Lions who broke clear in the second quarter, to lead by 26 points at the main break.

While Bacchus Marsh threw everything at the visitors in the second half, Sunbury always looked the steadier of the two teams and were able to break away late to record an impressive victory.

For Sunbury coach Matt White, the performance, off a bye, spoke volumes as to where his side could get to this year.

He said his team had stuck to the plan, knowing that Bacchus Marsh would likely get first use of the ball in the centre with a dominant ruckman in Luke Goetz

"We went in with a plan and we were able to hold them pretty steady in the midfield battle and we were able to get them around the ground, which was fantastic," he said.

"We definitely had to double-prong the rucks and we set Brock Landt for Tyson Shea who was taring us apart in the first quarter. We sent Brock to him and he was able to get the job done.

"We got a good event spread of goalkickers and our backs really stood up as well."

Bacchus Marsh coach Dennis Armfield said his side had been taught a lesson against a well-oiled machine.

"We've had a few steps forward over the first few weeks, but this was a step back," he said. "They are a classy unit, hard running, skilful, we just got stuck playing piggy in the middle the whole day.

"It was a good education on what hard running really is for our boys, as well as skill execution.

"It's a bit of a theme at the moment, we can't quite seem to get our balance correct about when to go and when to slow it down a little bit. It's a learning curve, I thought we just had a few too many players down on form and touch for the day, which at our level you can't afford."

Sunbury 4.3, 9.5, 13.9, 17.12 (114) d Bacchus Marsh 3.1, 5.3, 7.6, 8.13 (61)

GOALS: (Sunbury) J Sutton 4, J Egan 3, M McLean 3, N Doyle 2, B Cameron 1, J Guthrie 1, B Landt 1, T Lever 1, P Scanlon 1 (Bacchus Marsh) J Owen 4, A Lalor 1, E McKercher 1, T Shea 1, K Tyrrell 1 BEST: (Sunbury) J Egan, F Ampulski, B Cameron, T Lever, J Tentonello, B Landt (Bacchus Marsh) J Owen, D Armfield, T Shea, J McCreery, C Pigott, S. Lafranchi

REDAN has squared up its season at 2-2 after a heartstopping win over an injury riddled Sebastopol, holding on for an 11-point win

Little could separate the teams throughout the contest until Redan kicked away early in the last quarter to open up a 29-point lead, but Sebastopol wouldn't be denied, getting back to five points deep into time on before Redan iced the game with the final kick of the game, winning 13.13 (91) to 11.14 (80).

But it was the injuries that came from the game that could have the most lasting effect with Sebastopol's Lachlan Cassidy hurting a calf while key defender Riley O'Keefe has an arm injury.

Redan didn't walk away unscathed either with Daniel Bond also hurting his ankle and would seem unlikely for the huge clash with Darley next week.

Redan coach Gary Learmonth said after the contest he was thrilled that his side was able to find something early in the last quarter when the game was on the line.

"We were a bit cleaner, we were a bit more composed, but I think for that 10-15 minute at the start of the last quarter we were able to get a bit of a run on.

"It was a game of momentum and they probably kept us in it a bit, missing a few goals. I think in the end, it was our belief and perhaps bit of fitness in the young guys to run the game out."

Sebastopol coach Tony Lockyer said he felt his had given away the early advantage by conceding three late goals in second quarter, which ultimately put his side under pressure.

"I thought Cassidy had done a hamstring, but it was his calf, he said 'he'd never done one before so he wasn't sure what it was'." Lockyer said.

"O'Keefe early, to lose a key backman, I'm not sure if it's a broken arm, he did get a big knock just after the first quarter and it does hurt your rotations.

"I was proud of the boys the way they fought it out. It shows what we are capable of, we nearly got there in the end, really close to snatching it.

"But it was the end of the second quarter to give away three late goals, I thought we had the game in our control to that point, so that was disappointing to go in with.

"We have a great belief in our system, we just need to get it going when we're not 40 points down at the last break."

Redan 2.3, 6.6, 8.8, 13.13 (91) d Sebastopol 2.3, 5.7, 7.13, 11.14 (80)

GOALS: (Redan) G Bell 3, M Boyer 3, D Bond 1, B Carroll 1, R Collins 1, L Farnsworth 1, B Green 1, R Gunsser 1, H McNamara 1 (Sebastopol) L Kiel 2, L Cassidy 1, A Forbes 1, J Hill 1, L Latch 1, T Lockyer 1, J McDonald 1, R McNally 1, T Steenhuis 1 BEST (Redan) J Short, B Carroll, R Gunsser, K Jess, M Boyer, B Douglass (Sebastopol) R McNally, C O'Shea, R Birthisel, T Lockyer, L Cassidy, B Medwell

North Ballarat has finally got a big win on the board, dominating the final three quarters of its contest with Lake Wendouree to win record a 21.17 (143) to 7.6 (48) win.

But it was a game where both coaches saw plenty of good signs from their teams, with the Lakers going one-on-one throughout much of the contest, giving their young team an opportunity to learn from one of the best sides in the competition.

On a big day for North Ballarat where they welcomed back players from across the past decades, the Roosters kicked into overdrive in the second quarter after a fairly even start.

The seven-goal-to-one term set up the victory and a further seven goals in the last quarter cemented a strong performance.

North Ballarat coach Brendan McCartney said it was a great day all round for the club.

"Lake Wendouree were busy around the ball, they went one-on-one across the field which I can understand, it made the game a bit muddling early, but we hung in there and I think we're building form.

"Saturday I felt was the first time we've put all the phases together, the set-ups, we defended the ground well, I thought we were smarter with the ball, we didn't quite do that against Melton and we paid for it.

"It''s probably the first look we've really had. We were able to put things together a bit more systematically."

The Lakers were dealt a blow with the loss of Felix Fogaty just before quarter time with an ankle injury after he was one on the ground early.

Coach Rohan Brown said he was content with the way his side went about the performance, but said they needed to cut our simple errors to compete with the better sides.

"We were happy with our system, we ticked off the things we wanted to do," he said.

"Right now, it's the fundamentals of the game that are killing us, but if you do talk about the scoreboard, that's where we're hurting us. You can be giving eight, 10, 12 goals to a side like North, that's what killed us.

"We're encouraging our guys to make mistakes, that's how you learn. We showed some really good patches, but I cannot question our intent and pressure for the four quarters."

North Ballarat 3.2, 10.8, 14.11, 21.17 (143) d Lake Wendouree 2.2, 3.3, 5.5, 7.6 (48)

GOALS: (North Ballarat) H Trigg 4, L Deering 3, D Morris 3, N Nash 3, E Lamb 2, S McCartin 2, M White 2, H Loader 1 (Lake Wendouree) B Cameron 1, T Collins 1, F Fogaty 1, J O'Connell 1, N Pring 1, B Thompson 1 BEST; (North Ballarat) B Leonard, B Morris, E Lamb, H Trigg, J Sparkman, F Loader (Lake Wendouree) T Zampatti, J O'Connell, P James, N Pring, A Gove

From start to finish it was East Point's day against a young Melton South line-up, running away to a huge 174-point win at Eastern Oval.

While Strahan Robinson was the one who cashed in up forward with eight goals, he was just one of 13 players that got on the scoreboard as the Kangaroos flicked the ball around in a complete performance.

It was that sharing of the ball that most pleased East Point coach Joe Carmody as his team controlled the contest throughout.

"I thought it was a good overall performance from us," Carmody said. "Obviously when you're up against a young developing team, you still have to take that opportunity when it presents itself.

"For us, I thought we played a very unselfish game and we were able to execute things as to how we wanted to play the game in terms of how we wanted to defend and move the ball.

"Strahan kicked eight, but outside of that, there were lots of opportunities for others to kick bags, but they always looked for the best option inside 50, which was really pleasing."

The return of Jacob Brown to the club added another level of potency to the team, combining well with Jackson Merrett to continually set-up play.

"I think Jacob brought his own footy, he was sensational," Carmody said. "He played off half back and when the stats come out, I'm sure it'll be outstanding, it's nice to have him back.

"It's a luxury to have those guys off half-back and we know we can move Jackson into the midfield or forward if we need to, as it was Jackson kicked three of half-back on Saturday."

Melton South will relish an opportunity to have a break in the next round, before they meet up with Bacchus March the following round.

East Point 5.6, 11.11, 22.17, 26.25 (181) d Melton South 0.0, 0.1, 0.1, 1.1 (7)

GOALS: (East Point) S Robinson 8, B McDougall 3, J Merrett 3, J Dodd 2, J Jeffrey 2, J Brown 1, J Cairns 1, L Canny 1, T Conlon 1, M Johnston 1, B Jones 1, G Slater, 1, H Thompson 1 (Melton South) D Zajac 1 BEST: (East Point) J Brown, M Johnston, J Johnston, S Robinson, J Merrett, M Rotumah-Onus (Melton South) D Schilder, L Prithcard, D Zajac, R TZheo, J Bibby, D Wyatt