NORTH BALLARAT CITY V SEBASTOPOL

Sebastopol clawed its way to a crucial 29-point over an injury-hit North Ballarat City in the Ballarat Football League at Mars Stadium on Sunday.

The Burra finished the stronger with four goals in the last term in a hard slog.

Final scores: 7.15 (57) to 3.10 (28).

In what could only be described as horrendous conditions for football, each sides managed only two in the first half, with Sebastopo

With both Cam McCallum and Tim Spiers suffering injuries and not being able to run out the game, it made things even tougher for North City, which was left to ponder just want went wrong after kicking just three goals for the match.

Sebastopol coach Leigh Hutchinson singled out Grady Snowden for the job that he was able to do on talented North forward Will Young.

"Our big recruits played well, but they took everyone else along as well. Every player helped us win the game today. That was the most pleasing thing.

"Today all the boys wanted to compete and stay in the game for a long period of time".

North City coach Shane Skontra said despite the result the effort from his players was still there.

"Sebastopol played a smarter brand of footy today. They were able to set up behind the play well.

"Our effort was generally there.

"We are trying, but I think physically we weren't able to compete with some of Sebastopol's bigger onballers."

Sebastopol 1.1, 2.7, 3.11, 7.15 (57)

North Ballarat City 2.1, 2.3, 2.9, 3.10 (28)

GOALS - Sebastopol: Jai Harvey 2, Michael Powell 1, Luke Kiel 1, James Keeble 1, Lachlan Cassidy 1, Simon Butler 1. North Ballarat City: William Young 3

BEST - Sebastopol: Tobias Thoolen, Benjamin Trew, Luke Kiel, Jai Harvey, Lachlan Cassidy, Daniel Widgery. North Ballarat City: Ryan Hobbs, Daniel Jones, Jason McNamara, Ryan Luke, Simon Mc Cartin, Sam Bromley-Lynch

REDAN V EAST POINT

Redan forced the Ballarat Football League community to sit up and take notice with an eight-point win over premiership fancy East Point at the City Oval on Saturday.

In what could only be described as an old fashioned slog, Redan out-lasted the Kangaroos 8.19 (67) to 7.17 (59).

This leaves Redan as the only unbeaten side and on top of the ladder ahead of East Point and Darley, which have had each had one loss in six rounds.

East Point coach Jake Bridges conceded that Redan seemed to be the better side for longer.

"We didn't really take our opportunities early and I think that showed. We still have faith that we will be able to step up and peak at the right time of the year. We were just beaten (today) by a better side.".

Redan captain Liam Hoy said the Lions had rated East Point as the benchmark and knew the game would show where they were.

"Externally people probably still don't really rate us that high so we were keen to prove a few wrong and see we were at," he said.

Hoy believed the Lions' pressure on the ball had been a winning factor on the day.

East Point jumped out the blocks, kicking the first three goals in a term in which Redan failed to kick a goal.

From there It was Redan which seemed to control play, with youngsters Cooper Atchison and Zac Jenkins among the players to stamp their authority. on a game in which the margin between the sides never exceeded 10 points.

Redan continued to hold sway throughout the second half - ultimately resisting a number of late East Point challenges.

Each side had its share of injury concerns.

Redan lost ruckman Orren Stephenson (groin) for the second half, while the Roos has Aden Nestor sent to hospital early in the game with a suspected rib injury. Brad Whittaker, Clay Bilney and Mitch Walsh also had issues.

Redan 0.5, 3.9, 5.17, 8.19 (67)

East Point 3.4, 3.8, 5.12, 7.17 (59)

GOALS - Redan: Dean Chester 2, Grant Bell 2, Lachlan George 1, Liam O'Brien 1, Dean Mathews 1, Cooper Atchison 1. East Point: Jake McQueen 2, Bryson McDougall 1, Mickitja Rotumah-Onus 1, Daniel Tung 1, Matthew Johnston 1, Lucas Dahlenburg 1

BEST - Redan: Cooper Atchison, Zac Jenkins, Alexander Harvey, Liam Hoy, Dean Mathews, Patrick Britt. East Point: Matthew Johnston, Billy Jones, Jesse Baird, Mickitja Rotumah-Onus, Drew Murphy, Jordan Johnston

BALLARAT V DARLEY

Darley survived a massive scare, squeezing past Ballarat by five points at Alfredton.

It was a heartbreak for the Swans for a second week in a row, after drawing with Lake Wendouree in round five.

The match developed into a shoot-out with Andrew Hooper kicking six goals for Ballarat and Jake Edwards five for the Devils.

Edwards provided a leading target and also spent time on the ball in a rotation with Nick Graham, while the Swans isolated Hooper one-out deep in attack.

For Darley, it was a day when it managed to get out of jail after trailing for most of the first half and then scrapping its way through a tense last term when scores were level three times.

Darley started the last quarter 13 points in front after keeping the home side goalless in the third.

Hooper threaded the opening two goals of the quarter inside seven minutes and from there it was an arm wrestle.

Ballarat managed to get six points in front, but Darley was to have the answers and final say.

Coach Heath Scotland commended the Devils for finding a way to win.

He said they had needed to lift and had taken on board what was required to get the points.

Ballarat coach Joe Carmody said the Swans had set a standard and just had to keep working.

"It's all about hard work."

He said while yet to win, Ballarat still had 10 games to make an impact.

"We just have to keep working hard."

Ballarat not only took up the game to the premiership contender, it made a lot of the running in a physically demanding contest.

The Swans had the better of stoppages early and tackled as hard as it has this season, but turnovers in attack were ultimately costly.

Darren Leonard stood tall in defence with repeated intercept marks, which enabled Darley to isolate targets in attack such as the sure-handed Edwards.

Luther Baker was instrumental in getting Darley going around the packs, where Daniel Kennedy was damaging for the Swans and constant headache for the Devils.

Lachy Dawson worked through shoulder trouble to keep a close tage on Nick Graham and Bailkey Van de Heuvel was again solid in defence.

Darley 1.2, 3.5, 6.6, 8.9 (57)

Ballarat 2.1, 4.4, 4.7, 7.10 (52)

GOALS - Darley: Jake Edwards 5, Daniel Robson 2, Joel Cadman 1. Ballarat: Andrew Hooper 6, Tyler Constable 1

BEST - Darley: Darren Leonard, Jake Ancrum, Jake Edwards, Luther Baker, Shane Page, Joel Cadman. Ballarat: Daniel Kennedy, Andrew Hooper, Bailey Van de Heuvel, Lachy Dawson, Mitchell Martin, Taylor Sutton

MELTON SOUTH V LAKE WENDOUREE

Melton South produced a massive turn around to upset Lake Wendouree at Melton Recreation Reserve on Saturday.

Coming off a 191-point loss to East Point, the Panthers turned it on to salute 12.7 (79) to 5.11 (41) for their first victory of the season.

Port Melbourne VFL-listed Dylan Conway was the hero with six goals.

The Lakers have now gone three rounds without a win after a promising start to the year.

Melton South coach Heath Pritchard said the performance had been player driven.

"I'm rapt for them."

Pritchard said the Panthers had clearly had the toughest draw to date - having played Melton, Darley, East Point and Sunbury.

He said with the competition as tight as it was this one win opened up the season for them.

Prtichard said he had freshened up the players mentally as much as physically with a light training session on Tuesday. "We had some fun. We ramped it up on Thursday.

"The players then took up the challenge."

He said they took on the game, with a reduction in turnovers being a major factor.

It did not come easy for Melton South. It trailed at quarter time and half-time, then the Panthers had to deal with a string of injuries late which effectively left them with an empty bench for the last term when the pressure was at its highest.

They lost Broden Collins (ankle), Brody Sullivan (hamstring), Paul Bower (hamstring) and Will Thornton-Gielenwill (throat).

Collins will have x-rays to determine the extent of damage, while for Sullivan it was only his first game back after straining the same hamstring in round three.

Pritchard said Bower experienced hamstring tightness and was benched largely as as precautionary move.

Conway also suffered a stinger in a shoulder in the third term, but played on.

Pritchard was full of praise for Conway's performance and attitude to play through the injury.

"He buys into the club each time he plays."

This is Conway's sixth appearance for the Panthers since aligning last year, with him kicking 26 goals.

Pritchard also had praise for Lakers coach Dale Power and his gracious attitude in defeat.

"He's a class act."

Power reflected on the similarity in Melton South's response to a crushing defeat to East Point and that of Lake Wendouree at the start of the season.

The Lakers bounced back from a 101-point drubbing at the hands of the Roos to win their next two games.

Unfortunately for Lake Wendouree, it has not won since.

Melton South 2.3, 4.6, 8.10, 10.16 (76)

Lake Wendouree 4.5, 5.5, 6.5, 8.9 (57)

GOALS - Melton South: Dylan Conway 6, Ryan Holzer 1, Matthew Sullivan 1, Daniel Leggett 1, Billy Sullivan 1. Lake Wendouree: Ashley Simpson 2, Liam Hepworth 2, Bailey Edwards 1, Callum McKay 1, Nathan Pring 1, Joshua Bibby 1

BEST - Melton South: Dylan Conway, Sharp Dillon, Matthew Sullivan, Riley Theo, Daniel Leggett, Paul Bower. Lake Wendouree: Scott Carlin, Jacob Coxall, Ashley Simpson, Ben Taylor, William Henderson, Caleb Hepworth

SUNBURY V MELTON

Sunbury coach Travis Hodgson says a 42-point win over arch-rival Melton at Clarke Oval has set a benchmark for the rest of the season for the Lions.

The Lions ran away with a seven-goal last quarter.

However, up to that stage their poor conversion rate in front of goal had contributed to the Lions trailing at half-time and being only 13 points to the good at the last change.

Hodgson said the complexion of the game had changed when Sunbury found its range.

While the likes Mitch Conn, Lachie Bramble and Alik Magin were again prominent, it was the emergence of others which had helped the Lions open up the game.

Hodgson said it was now up to Sunbury to produce a winning brand of football away from home - starting at Lake Wendouree next round.

Sunbury has won three games - all at home, where iit is unbeaten..

Sunbury 1.4, 2.7, 6.14, 13.16 (94)

Melton 2.1, 4.5, 5.7, 7.10 (52)

GOALS - Sunbury: Andrew Duhau 3, Jacob Bygate 2, Jack Sheahan 2, Alik Magin 2, Leigh Brennan 1, Michael Edwards 1, Jack Landt 1, Lachlan Bramble 1. Melton: Benjamin McMahon 2, Brett McIntyre 1, Ryan Davis 1, Braedan Kight 1, Riley Walker 1, Shaun Campbell 1

BEST - Sunbury: Mitchell Conn, Michael Edwards, Lachlan Bramble, Alik Magin, Nathan Wood, Daylan Kempster. Melton: Benjamin McMahon, Lachlan Walker, Riley Walker, Lachlan Hickey, Anthony Hibbert, Brett McIntyre