A match-up of top-four teams, the Lakies grabbed control of the game early in the wet and windy conditions.

Converting on its own opportunities near the rim, Learmonth stifled the Bombers into missed shots and mistakes, leading to the 19-goal win.

The result drops Buninyong out of the top four with only four games remaining this season as Ballan secured another victory to take the Bombers place.

By no means an easy win, the Blues had to fight for all four quarters to get over the line at home against the Towners. The win is Ballan's fourth in a row.

Elsewhere is the race for the eighth finals spot, Bungaree went on the road to take down the Roos in the equal-closest game of the round. The win brings the Demons equal with Waubra on 28 competition points.

In the other closest game of the round, Hepburn out-lasted a spirited Rokewood-Corindhap side to secure its 11^th win of the season.

Newlyn kept the Dogs on the bottom of the ladder with a 31-goal win in the inaugural Pride Cup, Beaufort registered its first win of the year over the Wickers, Gordon pulled away from Clunes on the road and Springbank secured an easy win over the Saints.

Sunbury has handed East Point its first loss of the season in a top-end clash in the Ballarat Football Netball League.

East Point head coach Jo Bayles knew her team needed a good start in order to defeat Sunbury at Clarke Oval on Saturday.

But early pressure from Sunbury set the tone for the Lions who jumped to an early lead.

From there it was a matter of playing catch-up for the table leaders who found themselves down by five goals heading into the main break.

Wet and slippery conditions added to the difficulties for East Point, but it managed to tighten the gap by the final term. After drawing even with Sunbury late in the fourth quarter a come-back victory looked on the cards.

It wasn't to be. Ill-timed turnovers plagued East Point down the stretch as Sunbury raced away to a three-goal win.

"It was disappointing to see that our mistakes let the game get away from us but at the same time there was a lot of positives we took away as well," said Bayles after the match.

"The girls showed a fair amount of resilience, and we were able to make positive changes when we needed to, but we couldn't quite get the job done."

Lions goal attack Shelby Holter proved a standout for the victors, converting on 40 of her 46 goal attempts.

Bayles commended Holter's performance, calling her a 'headache' to shutdown.

"For someone so young, you can see what she will eventually grow into, so she is a great asset for them," she said.

"We had to work a bit harder in our circle and we didn't shoot with the same level of accuracy."

East Point remain on top of the BFNL table.

Elsewhere Melton South have leapfrogged Ballarat to take fifth spot after upsetting the Swans by five goals in Melton.

North Ballarat defeated Lake Wendouree by 15 goals at Wendouree Reserve. Bachus Marsh beat Redan by eight goals at Maddingley Park and Sebastopol thumped Melton at Marty Busch Reserve.

RESUTLS - CHNL

Ballan 40 d Dunnstown 34

Springbank 51 d Carngham-Linton 32

Gordon 45 d Clunes 35

Beaufort 55 d Creswick 26

Newlyn 52 d Daylesford 20

Learmonth 47 d Buninyong 26

Hepburn 57 d Rokewood-Corindhap 54

Bungaree 26 d Waubra 23

LADDER: LEARMONTH 52, 319.93, HEPBURN 48, 210.22, SPRINGBANK 44, 158.59, BALLAN 44, 146.94, BUNINYONG 40, 170.12, ROKEWOOD-CORINDHAP 36, 144.57, GORDON 32, 73.73, WAUBRA 28, 148.81, Bungaree 28, 100.00, Dunnstown 24, 102.21, Skipton 24, 75.49, Newlyn 20, 80.00, Carngham-Linton 20, 74.73, Clunes 12, 60.89, Beaufort 8, 55.18, Creswick 4, 41.05, Daylesford 4, 25.74.

RESULTS - BFNL

Bacchus Marsh 49 d Redan 41

North Ballarat City 49 d Lake Wendouree 34

Melton South 41 d Ballarat 36

Sebastopol 62 d Melton 32

Sunbury 46 d East Point 43

LADDER: EAST POINT 44, 145.60, SUNBURY 44, 145.50, NORTH BALLARAT CITY 40, 143.14, LAKE WENDOUREE 32, 125.49, MELTON SOUTH 28, 94.09, BALLARAT 24, 113.14, Bacchus Marsh 24, 89.68, Melton 16, 74.14, Sebastopol 12, 81.87, Redan 12, 73.44, Darley 12, 58.12.

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