The Swans made the most of an improved start to take hold of the game in the second term and then go on with the job.

Ballarat coach Shane Hutchinson was pleased to see his young outfit kick-on from a win over Redan and claim a major scalp.

He said Sunbury had still loomed as a real threat at half-time despite Ballarat’s lead being 21 points, but the Swans had stuck to their task and reaped the reward.

This gives Ballarat three wins and drops Sunbury, which now has two losses, from second to fourth.

Sunbury coach Ben Jordan said pre-match that the below top strength Lions’ depth might be tested and his concern proved spot on.

Some of the gloss of the was taken off Ballarat’s win with Nick Garner being reported for having allegedly bitten a Sunbury player at the end of the thid quarter and red carded.

Hutchinson said Garner had denied he had bitten anyone and would plead not guilty to the charge.

LAKE Wendouree climbed into the top six with a game to spare by with commanding 27-point win over a disappointing Melton at Wendouree.

The Bloods dominated the opening 15 minutes, with its aerial supremacy setting up a 19-point lead.

With its midfield coming to life and defence firming up though, Lakers  kicked 11 of the next 14 goals to rip the game from Melton.

The loss puts the heat on Melton, which is now two games outside the top six..

SEBASTOPOL has joined Melton on 16 premiership points after defeating a hapless Melton South by 40 points at Marty Busch Reserve.

It never looked like being a fairytale start for new coach Heath Pritchard, with the Panthers not getting their first goal until the third quarter.

EAST Point continued to impress in a 29-point win over North Ballarat in a game which lived up to match of the day status at the Eastern Oval.

The Kangaroos needed until the last term to finally shake off North.

BACCHUS Marsh as expected comfortably held Redan at bay.

LADDER

Bacchus Marsh 7 6 1 0 1 0 903 495 182.42 28 

East Point 7 6 1 0 1 0 699 538 129.93 28 

North Ballarat City 7 5 2 0 1 0 656 516 127.13 24 

Sunbury 7 5 2 0 1 0 517 418 123.68 24 

Darley 7 4 3 0 1 0 547 449 121.83 20 

Lake Wendouree 7 4 3 0 1 0 505 499 101.20 20 

Melton 8 4 4 0 0 0 631 585 107.86 16 

Sebastopol 7 3 4 0 1 0 479 544 88.05 16 

Ballarat 8 3 5 0 0 0 497 763 65.14 12 

Melton South 7 0 7 0 1 0 443 698 63.47 4 

Redan 8 0 8 0 0 0 500 872 57.34 0 

ROUND 8 DETAILS

Bacchus Marsh 7.6, 8.11, 15.19, 19.22 (136)

Redan 1.2, 4.6, 6.6, 12.9 (81)

GOALS - Bacchus Marsh: Jake Owen 6, Aaron Willitts 5, Dylon Bishop 2, Daniel Foley 2, Benjamin Speight 2, Nicholas Stuhldreier 1,  Harrison King 1. Redan: Blake Thomson 2, Liam Hoy 2, Lachlan McLean 2, Dustin Okely 1, Jack Jess 1, Nathan Horbury 1, William Madden 1, Benjamin Smyth 1, Grant Bell 1

BEST - Bacchus Marsh: Jake Owen, Daniel Burton, Benjamin Speight, Nicholas Stuhldreier, Daniel Velden, Tyson Shea. Redan: Blake Thomson, Nathan Horbury, Patrick Britt, Sam Carr, Liam Hoy, Matthew Coon

Lake Wendouree 4.1, 5.4, 12.6, 15.7 (97)

Melton 6.4, 6.4, 7.7, 10.10 (70)

GOALS - Lake Wendouree: Callum McKay 6, Caleb Hepworth 2, Bailey Edwards 1, Ben Taylor 1, Tom Nijam 1, Nathan Pring 1,  Liam Hepworth 1, Jack Elkington 1, Joel O'Connell 1.Melton: Braedan Kight 3, Matt Denham 2, Ryan Carter 2, Mark Orr 1, Jaycob Hickey 1, Luke Heaney 1

BEST - Lake Wendouree: Callum McKay, Joel O'Connell, Sam Clifton, Caleb Hepworth, Liam Hepworth, Jack Elkington. Melton: Matt Denham, Jaycob Hickey, Lachlan Hickey, Braedan Kight, Luke Heaney, Ryan Davis

Sebastopol 2.2, 4.9, 6.15, 9.18 (72)

Melton South 0.4, 0.7, 3.7, 3.14 (32)

GOALS - Sebastopol: Toby Hutt 6, Lachlan Cassidy 1, James Keeble 1, Ben Hutt 1. Melton South: Billy Sullivan 1, Dylan Clarke 1, Mitchell Golby 1

BEST - Sebastopol: Toby Hutt, Lachlan Cassidy, Tom Petersen, Ben Hutt, Tony Lockyer, Ryan Noether. Melton South: Mitchell Golby, Dale Houghton, Shaun White, Matthew Notman, Benjamin Sortino, Billy Sullivan

East Point 3.0, 7.4, 10.4, 15.9 (99)

North Ballarat City 3.4, 4.5, 9.9, 10.10 (70)

GOALS - East Point: Jordan Johnston 4, Joel Ottavi 3, Matthew Johnston 3, Bryson McDougall 2, Jordan Taylor 1, Jacob Brown 1,  Daniel Semmens 1. North Ballarat City: Samuel Dunstan 3, Timothy Speirs 2, Mitchell Johns 2, William Young 1, Daniel Jones 1, Simon McCartin 1

BEST - East Point: Paul Kodorenko, Daniel Tung, Matthew Johnston, Jordan Johnston, Aden Nestor, Cameron Lovig. North Ballarat City: Ryan Luke, Benjamin Simpson , Simon Mc Cartin, Samuel Dunstan, Mitchell Johns, James Cusack

Ballarat 2.6, 6.9, 10.14, 11.17 (83)

Sunbury 2.2, 3.6, 5.7, 6.8 (44)

GOALS - Ballarat: Nicholas Garner 3, Lucas Hodgetts 2, Thomas Conroy 2, Jack Blackburn 1, Marcus Powling 1, Mitchell Martin 1, Mitchell Bowman 1. Sunbury: Dylan Landt 2, Andrew Duhau 1, Trent Stead 1, Michael Edwards 1, Grant Valles 1. 

BEST - Ballarat: Shane Hutchinson, Luke Wynd, Mitchell Bishop, Daniel Kennedy, Mitchell Martin, Carter Prendergast. Sunbury: Michael Edwards, Mitchell Trimboli, Reece Wood, Luke Goater, Andrew Duhau, Jack Fenner