The Roos laid it on the table that the Burra is going to have to go to a whole new level if it wants to make an impact on the finals series.

Sebastopol has been as good as any of the top six, but it was found wanting at Marty Busch Reserve on Saturday.

East Point had Sebastopol chasing on the scoreboard for most of the day before walk away with a 42-point victory.

The defensive muscle of East Point was the cornerstone of the performance, which kept it on top of the ladder with two rounds to play.

Then the attacking flair of Jordan Johnston (4 goals) and Jake McQueen (2 goals), who each displayed a knack to make goal scoring opportunities out of nothing, did the rest.

East Point lost Bryson McDougall and Daniel Semmens in pre-match changes to the selected side, and then in the second quarter Billy Jones' day came to end when he was concussed in a heavy tackle in which his head hit the ground.

Burra onballer Lachie Cassidy was reported in the incident.

Sebastopol struggled to find any space forward in the face of nothing less than hard-nose defence from the reigning premier, which constantly threw numbers back.

East Point's ability to absorb a barrage of sustained pressure from the Burra and then transition into open space was a trend from early in the game.

Sebastopol was clearly in trouble at half-time, trailing by 26 points.

However, a Tony Lockyer-inspired surge when he went from half back to an on-ball role produced two majors in the opening six minutes of the third quarter to have Burra back in touch.

That was where the fight back stopped though.

East Point bottled it up and then two goals of its own in time-on restored the Roos' supremacy and Sebastopol's day was done.

East Point coach Jake Bridges said quick transition and hard "gut" running between the 50m arcs had been linchpin to the Roos taking control of the game.

The Roos were impressed by the output of Dallas Martin in the ruck in only his second appearance of the year.

Sebastopol's Toby Thoolen had the better of the ruck duels, but Martin made his presence felt around the ground.

The Burra lost Matt Austin before the game, with him withdrawing after having just the one game back since the opening round.

East Point 3.4, 5.7, 7.10, 10.16 (76)

Sebastopol 1.3, 1.5, 3.9, 4.10 (34)

GOALS - East Point: Jordan Johnston 4, Jake McQueen 2, Aden Nestor 1, Brad Whittaker 1, Matthew Johnston 1, Cameron Lovig 1. Sebastopol: Toby Hutt 2, Michael Powell 1, Tony Lockyer 1

BEST - East Point: Jordan Johnston, Dallas Martin, Clay Bilney, Chris Carson, Drew Murphy, Daniel Tung. Sebastopol: Jacob Wilkinson, Toby Hutt, Jordan Gercovich, Tony Lockyer, Lachlan Cassidy, Sam Jenkins

Darley re-gnited its season with a 21-point victory over North City Ballarat City at Mars Stadium on Saturday.

Not only did it put energy back in the Devils' campaign, the performance finalised the top six as its ended North Ballarat's hopes a late charge and secured a finals berth for themselves.

LADDER

EAST POINT 48 162.67

REDAN 48 122.02 - up two spots

MELTON 44 137.60 - up two spots

DARLEY 44 128.44 - up two spots

SEBASTOPOL 44 127.40 - down three spots

SUNBURY 44 119.73 - down thee spots

North Ballarat City 32 96.43

Bacchus Marsh 28 111.06

Lake Wendouree 26 67.30

Ballarat 22 69.02

Melton South 12 40.17

The Devils appeared hungrier from the outset, with coach Heath Scotland labelling it as one of his side's best wins for the season.

Darley controlled play for the majority of the contest, leading at every change before North Ballarat mounted a late fight back.

After a few lean weeks, it was exactly what Scotland and his players needed, especially given the Devils had nine under-19 players in their starting line up.

Jake Ancrum was best-on-ground for a performance that he has been building towards for sometime.

Darley dominated early, when most of the damage was done.

With such a young combination, the workload of the Devils' most experieced players was always going to be significant and they delivered.

Luther Baker was brilliant for the visitors, along with Shane Page, Darren Leonard and Brian Graham. \

Scotland highlighted the contribution of his senior players as well as the injection of some young stars into his side.

"I was pleased with the response after the poor game against Sunbury.

"We had a lot of big name players playing and not delivering what they are capable of, and I was rapt that the young players embraced that opportunity.

"They worked for each other today and it was a really important win. It was a great response," Scotland said.

North Ballarat City coach Shane Skontra lamented his side's missed opportunities early on.

"Darley was able to take its chances on the scoreboard early, which I think in many ways is a reflection on how our year has been," he said.

Darley 2.4, 5.8, 11.8, 12.13 (85)

North Ballarat City 2.3, 3.6, 5.14, 8.16 (64)

GOALS - Darley: Jake Ancrum 3, Jake Edwards 2, Mark Hanson 2, Leigh Spiteri 1, Bryce Stephenson 1, Andrew Azzopardi 1, Luther Baker 1, Joel Cadman 1. North Ballarat City: Izaac Johnson 3, Sam Bromley-Lynch 2, Timothy Speirs 1, Fletcher Loader 1, William Young 1.

BEST - Darley: Luther Baker, Jake Ancrum, Shane Page, Brian Graham, Darren Leonard, Nash Reynolds. North Ballarat City: Adam Turley, Ryan Hobbs, Sam Bromley-Lynch, Timothy Speirs, Clay Jenkins, Tom Bromley-Lynch

Lake Wendouree ended a run of outs in holding off Bacchus Marsh by 12 points at CE Brown Reserve.

They had won only once in their previous 10 starts.

The Lakers controlled most of the match, but in the early minutes of last term the Cobras closed within a goal.

That was the end the visitors' challenge though.

Bacchus Marsh coach Peter Davey said he thought the Cobras were going to run over Lakers after getting two late goals in the third quarter and then another to cut the deficit to six points.

It was not to be, with Lakers playing the latter minutes on their terms.

Lake Wendouree coach Dale Power said it had been a credit to his players for sticking to the task.

"We had all the answers when challenged.

"There were some good signs.

"It was a great response after what has been a tough patch," he said.

Veteran Ben Taylor was among the players to dig deep when Bacchus Marsh was at its most dangerous in the last quarter.

Davey said the Cobras has played in bursts, conceding that overall Lakers had more control.

Lake Wendouree 3.5, 5.9, 7.13, 8.15 (63)

Bacchus Marsh 3.1, 4.5, 6.8, 7.9 (51)

GOALS - Lake Wendouree: Jacob Coxall 2, Callum Mc Kay 2, Joel O'Connell 1, Caleb Hepworth 1, Shane Hutchinson 1, Mitchell Phillips 1. Bacchus Marsh: Aaron Willitts 2, Brodie Easton 1, Rylan Porter 1, Daniel Burton 1, Nicholas Stuhldreier 1, Connor Stone 1

BEST - Lake Wendouree: William Henderson, Bailey Edwards, Liam Hepworth, Ben Taylor, Scott Carlin, Mitchell Phillips. Bacchus Marsh: Daniel Burton, Thomas Wardell, Tyson Shea, Ryley Stuhldreier, Brodie Easton, Jake Owen

Melton was rewarded for a big opening term into a stiff breeze to roll Sunbury by 18 points at MacPherson Park.

Sunbury was slow to get going.

Although it had plenty of the football in its half in what would be a match-defining first quarter, Sunbury simply could not put the score on the board.

In contrast, the Bloods took their opportunities with three goals.

Melton kept Sunbury goalless in the first half to lead by 34 points and have the game in their keeping.

Sunbury was down to 17 men for 15 minutes in the second term after captain Andrew Duhau was yellow carded and reported for striking, but the Lions were not offering this as an excuse.

For Sunbury coach Travis Hodgson, he had no doubt the game was decided in the initial 30 minutes.

"We finished well enough, but the damage was done."

Sunbury had its chances to get right back contest in the third term.

Although the Lions finally managed to find the goals, 2.9 was also well below what they needed to do.

The loss has almost certainly cost Sunbury, which now has a bye, any chance finishing in the top two and getting a double chance.

For Melton, it was one of its most important wins of the year as it now knows for the first time it will definitely play finals again.

Melton 3.3, 5.7, 6.9, 6.13 (49)

Sunbury 0.3, 0.3, 2.12, 3.13 (31)

GOALS - Melton: Mark Orr 3, Shaun Campbell 2, Matt Denham 1. Sunbury: Leigh Brennan 1, Jayden Eales 1, Jiaya Mitchell 1

BEST - Melton: Matt Denham, Lachlan Walker, Dyson Stevens, Mark Orr, Shaun Campbell, Lachlan Hickey. Sunbury: Alik Magin, Corey Mobilio, Lachlan Bramble, Jiaya Mitchell, Michael Edwards, Nathan Wood

Redan defeated Melton South by 54 points at Melton Recreation Reserve to climb to second position.

Melton South kept chipping away - being only marginally outscored in the first quarter and then having the better of the Lions on the scoreboard in the last - but Redan always had plenty up its sleeve.

The victory came at a cost on the injury front though.

Veteran Brendan Peace, playing his first senior game for the year, suffered a quad strain and benched in the third quarter

Captain Liam Hoy was put on ice in the opening term after suffering a corky and Ben Smyth has wrist soreness.

Redan coach Jarrett Giampaolo said while the Lions were good patches, there were times players had strayed away from the game plan.

He said there was still plenty to work on.

Redan 3.6, 8.8, 14.16, 16.21 (117)

Melton South 2.1 4.4 6.5, 9.9 (63)

GOALS - Redan: Lachlan McLean 5, Grant Bell 3, Pat Fitzgibbon 3, Alex Harvey 2, Lachie George 2, Stuart Aberdein. Melton South: Aaron Clarke 4, Sean Humphries 2, Matt Sullivan, Shaun White, Jon Bell

BEST - Lachie George, Alex Harvey, Orren Stephenson, Lachlan McLean, Liam O'Brien, Jacob Short. Melton South: Paul Bower, Will Thornton-Gielen, Dale Houghton, Aaron Clarke, Sean Humphries, Jacob Thornton-Gielen