The Hawks will go to the third day having claimed a nine-run first innings lead at the Eastern Oval on Sunday.

East Ballarat required a rescue mission by Jarrod Blandford and captain Josh Brown with the bat to get in front in an encounter dominated by the ball.

Brown and James Nichols eventually guided the Hawks past North Ballarat's moderate 131 with two wickets to spare.

While a first innings win can be enough to claim a premiership - giving East Ballarat an advantage - North Ballarat remains in contention with still enough time to turn things around and secure an outright win.

With East Ballarat going on to get 140, the Roosters are 2-43 in their second innings for an overall lead of 34 runs.

Connor Miles and Matt Zakynthinos are the not out batsman after a dour last session in which survival was the first objective after North Ballarat found itself 2-14.

East Ballarat and North Ballarat each had stints of domination with the ball.

It was ultimately the first half century for the match which gave the Hawks the all-important first innings lead.

Back from Tatyoon in the Grampians Cricket Association, Blandford could not have chosen a better time to strike form with his 60 (7 fours) his best score for the campaign.

East Ballarat was in dire trouble at 2-2 when he went to the crease and moments later 3-2 as North Ballarat put itself back in the match with a vengeance

It was to be Blandford and Brad Whittaker,18, who made the first decisive step in getting the Hawks to the line. They added 49 for the fifth wicket.

However, the work was far from done, with the Roosters instigating another collapse by taking 3-5 to have the Hawks in more trouble at 7-78.

Brown, 37 (7 fours), then joined Blandford and scrambled 40 to get East Ballarat within touch of its target at 118 and ultimately a first innings lead.

Ash McCafferty, 3-56, and Adam Eddy, 3-51, did the bulk of the early damage for North Ballarat. Jason Crosbie finished with 3-15.

East Ballarat's innings had a lot of similarities to North Ballarat's turn at the crease after being sent in on Saturday.

The Roosters also relied on a stand down the order to reach 131 after losing 3-6 late to be 9-79.

It was then that McCafferty and Mitch Nicholson who put on a crucial 52 runs.

McCafferty carved his way to 34 (4 fours and 2 sixes) in even time, while Nicholson reached 14.

Outside McCafferty, captain Leigh Lorenzen was the next best contributor with 24 (4 fours) at the top of the order.

Ollie Hayes did the bulk of the damage with the ball, with major support from off-spinner Tristan Dixon.

Hayes put in a big effort to break the back of the Roosters' top order on his way to 4-32 off 21 overs - 12 of which were maidens.

Dixon took 3-44 off 17 overs after being introduced first change and capturing a wicket with the first delivery he sent down.

The Hawks finished day-one at 4-32.

BEST PERFORMERS

BATTING

Jarrod Blandford (East) 60

Josh Brown (East) 37

Ash McCafferty (North) 34

Leigh Lorenzen (North) 24

BOWLING

Ollie Hayes (East) 4-32 and 2-26

Jason Crosbie (North) 3-15

Tristan Dixon (East) 3-44

Adam Eddy (North) 3-51

Ash McCafferty (North) 3-56

PARTNERSHIPS

NORTH BALLARAT

1st innings

52 runs: Ash McCafferty-Mitch Nicholson - 10th wicket

2nd innings

29 runs: Connor Miles-Matt Zakynthinos - 3rd wicket

EAST BALLARAT

1st innings

49 runs: Jarrod Blandford-Brad Whittaker - 5th wicket

40 runs: Jarrod Blandford-Josh Brown - 8th wicket

EAST BALLARAT v NORTH BALLARAT

At Eastern Oval

North Ballarat

1st Innings

L LORENZEN c Eyers b Hayes 24

J TISSERA c Dixon b Hayes 11

M ZAKYNTHINOS b Dixon 4

C MILES c Eyers b Hayes 5

M NOLAN c Brown b Dixon 3

D PRICE c Eyers b Brown 17

J CROSBIE b Hayes 7

S JACKSON c Ganley b Nichols 1

A EDDY lbw b Dixon 6

M NICHOLSON c Haseloff b Jerram 14

A MCCAFFERTY not out 34

Sundries 5

Total 131

Fall: 15, 23, 36, 47, 47, 62, 73, 75, 79, 131.

Bowling: O Hayes 21-12-32-4, J Brown 9-4-28-1, T Dixon 17-7-44-3, H Ganley 8-3-9-0, C Jerram 4.3-1-4-1, J Nichols 7-4-9-1.

Overs: 66.3.

East Ballarat

1st Innings

L HODGINS lbw b McCafferty 2

C HASELOFF c Nolan b McCafferty 0

C JERRAM c Price b Eddy 0

J BLANDFORD c Crosbie b Miles 60

H GANLEY c Nolan b Eddy 14

B WHITTAKER c Nolan b Crosbie 18

T DIXON c Nolan b Crosbie 2

J EYERS lbw b Eddy 0

J BROWN c Miles b Crosbie 37

J NICHOLS c Nolan b McCafferty 0

O HAYES not out 2

Sundries 5

Total 140

Fall: 1, 2, 2, 24, 73, 75, 78, 118, 132, 140.

Bowling: A McCafferty 16-2-56-3, A Eddy 21-9-51-3, C Miles 4-1-10-1, J Crosbie 8.3-3-15-3, L Lorenzen 1-0-5-0.

Overs: 50.3.

North Ballarat

2nd Innings

L LORENZEN c Eyers b Hayes 7

J TISSERA c Eyers b Hayes 6

M ZAKYNTHINOS not out 17

C MILES not out 13

Sundries 0

Two wickets for 43

Fall: 13, 14.

Bowling: O Hayes 12-3-26-2, J Nichols 3-1-5-0, T Dixon 7-4-3-0, H Ganley 7-5-4-0, J Brown 4-2-2-0, C Jerram 3-1-3-0.

Overs: 36.

Umpires: Allan Lepair, Peter Mackay.