Some VFL stars returned to their Ballarat Football Netball League sides in round six, making for a high-quality weekend of football.
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ROUND SIX
- Redan 14.8 (92) d East Point 11.13 (79)
- North Ballarat 17.7 (109) d Ballarat 5.8 (38)
- Sebastopol 10.9 (69) d Lake Wendouree 1.9 (15)
- Melton 15.12 (102) d Bacchus Marsh 1.9 (15)
- Darley 33.17 (215) d Melton South 2.2 (14)
Catch up on all the round six action below.
EAST POINT v REDAN
Redan coach Gary Learmonth said Saturday's 13-point win against East Point was one of the best wins he had ever been a part of.
The Lions, without any rotations on the bench, led all day at Eastern Oval to walk away with a statement-making victory and leapfrog East Point and Sunbury into fourth on the Ballarat Football Netball League ladder.
"When you've got that many good players out and you lose even more during the game, it shows character to still get over the line in that situation," Learmonth said.
"I think our ball movement was much better this week, we were a bit more composed and our kids were great.
"We can play as good as footy as anyone its just our consistency within quarters comes and goes."
Izaac Grant was at his game-changing best once again with 28 disposals, five tackles and four goals, while East Point playing coach Jackson Merrett did all he could to get his team over the line with two fourth-quarter goals in his return to action on Saturday.
"Hopefully the boys get some confidence out of a win like that and we can start to put some good performances together," Learmonth said.
For East Point, it was just the second loss of the season for Merrett's side as it now moves to 3-2 after six rounds.
Liam Canny kicked a game-high five goals for the Roos, while Redan's Izaac Grant added four to take his season tally to 18.
The injury-hit Redan has a well-timed bye to look forward to in round seven, while East Point prepares for reigning premier Melton.
Redan 4.5 5.5 9.7 14.8 (92)
East Point 1.3 3.7 5.9 11.13 (79)
GOALS - East Point: L.Canny 5, J.Merrett 2, B.Whittaker, J.Johnston 1, A.Nestor; Redan: I.Grant 4, L.McLean 3, F.Atchison 1, G.Bell, D.Bond, S.Broadbent, B.Carroll, L.Farnsworth, H.Lawson
BEST - East Point: Liam Canny, Matthew Johnston, Liam Howard, Joe Dodd, Jordan Johnston, Jordan Taylor; Redan: Liam Farnsworth, Izaac Grant, Daniel Bond, Tom Lamb, Harry Lawson, William Madden
BALLARAT v NORTH BALLARAT
A star-studded North Ballarat put together a flawless team-performance against Ballarat on Saturday, leaving Alfredton with a 71-point win.
Roosters coach Brendan McCartney said it was the most disciplined and hardest performance from his side for a long time.
"We did all the little things and basics well and got rewarded for it," McCartney said.
"We were just a really good hard-working, all-round team on Saturday and our players really benefiited from it."
Both rucks in North Ballarat's Cam McCallum (53 hit-outs) and Ballarat's Marcus Powling (53 hit-outs) featured in the best players as the two coaches acknowledged the ruck battle was a highlight of the day.
"It was probably Cam's best all-round performance for us," McCartney said.
"We know what he can do at the stoppage but he gave us a marking presence around the ground too which was terrific.
"He's very invested in his teammates as well, it would be hard to find a better connection than the one he and Riley (Polkinghorne) have."
Ballarat coach Chris Maple said Powling was his side's best player on Saturday.
"The ruck battle was probably the closest battle of the day," Maple said.
"Marcus was probably the only player on the ground that I thought had a slight win."
Maple admitted the Roosters were "too classy" for his undermanned Swans on Saturday.
The Swans will be hoping to claim their second win next week when they visit Melton South, while the Roosters host Sebastopol.
North Ballarat 3.1 9.2 11.4 17.7 (109)
Ballarat 1.1 3.3 4.5 5.8 (38)
GOALS - Ballarat: A.Hooper 2, J.Drever 1, W.Liston, M.McGrath; North Ballarat: S.Glover 5, J.Quick 4, J.Chatfield 3, N.Troon 2, M.Faulkner 1, E.Lamb, H.Loader
BEST - Ballarat: Marcus Powling, Tom Mooney, Ben Wardley, Tristan maple, Angus Bade, Will Liston; North Ballarat: Brock Leonard, Riley Polkinghorne, Cameron Mccallum, Sam Glover, Elliott Lamb, Joshua Sparkman
MELTON SOUTH v DARLEY
Darley recorded the largest win of the Ballarat Football Netball League season to date, defeating Melton South by 201 points on Saturday.
The Devils put on a clinic at Melton Recreation Reserve as Billy Myers booted a league-best nine goals.
Most importantly for Devils coach Dan Jordan, his side made it through Saturday unscathed and able to rest some of its key players in the second half.
"I'm keen for guys to get continuity in their footy so it wasn't that we didn't want to play them we just wanted to keep an eye on them," Jordan said.
"We want to try and get our full list as healthy as possible and we need to be careful on that towards the back half of the year."
Darley faces ninth-placed Lake Wendouree in round seven, which could provide the Devils with another opportunity to ease some players back into action.
Melton South has now lost all six matches by 100-plus points to sit bottom of the ladder as it prepares for Ballarat.
Darley 9.2 18.5 23.11 33.17 (215)
Melton South 0.0 1.1 2.1 2.2 (14)
BEST - Melton South: Cassius White, Rhys Lee, Mitch Fino, Jarrod Bibby, Paul Bridges, Riley Theo; Darley: Matthew Brett, Billy Myers, Mace Cousins, Matt Denham, Riley Matricardi, Joel Cadman
GOALS - Melton South: M.Caddy 1, C.Chapman; Darley: B.Myers 9, T.Van Leth 4, A.Azzorpardi 3, D.Bishop, D.Leonard, B.Bewley 2, J.Cadman, M.Denham, L.Baker 1, L.Impey, R.Matricardi, S.Page, B.Sullivan
SEBASTOPOL v LAKE WENDOUREE
Sebastopol held Lake Wendouree to just one goal on Saturday as the Burra cruised to a 54-point win at home.
Burra gun Tony Lockyer had a league-best 43 touches and 17 marks en route to the second-highest ranking point tally this season.
Hugo Papst kicked a game-high four goals, while Jamie Norton was the Lakers' sole goal kicker.
It was the second time this season Jack Fitzpatrick's side has only kicked one goal, with the Lakers only managing 1.12 in the Good Friday clash with Redan.
"We weren't very good with the footy," Fitzpatrick said.
"It was a frustrating result. It felt like we were in the game longer than it might seem.
"There were a couple of games earlier this year where we were poor but our opposition was simply better than we were however that didn't feel like the case on Saturday."
The win keeps Sebastopol in third place with a 4-1 win-loss record ahead of a big Mars Stadium match-up against North Ballarat.
For the Lakers, they showed signs of competitiveness on Saturday, holding Sebastopol to its lowest score so far this season, but failed to back up the drought-breaking win over Melton South from round five.
Sebastopol 3.4 4.6 6.8 10.9 (69)
Lake Wendouree 0.3 0.5 1.7 1.9 (15)
GOALS - Sebastopol: H.Papst 4, J.Hill 2, J.Harvey 1, J.Keeble, L.Latch, C.O'Shea; Lake Wendouree: J.Norton 1
BEST - Sebastopol: Jack Bambury, Tony Lockyer, Bailey Medwell, Connor O'Shea, Lachlan Cassidy, Hugo Papst; Lake Wendouree: Cody Helyar, Brayden Helyar, Michael Foster, Joel O'Connell, Lachlan Fitzgerald, Angus Gove
MELTON v BACCHUS MARSH
The Bloods did what they were expected to do against a Bacchus Marsh side missing a handful of its most important players.
Melton recorded a thumping 87-point win at home against the Cobras, as it welcomed back VFL star Kyle Borg for his first BFNL match this season.
Liam Carter and Ryan Carter both booted four goals each, while the Cobras only goal came via Jake McCreery.
Luke Goetz continued his red-hot form and even spent time forward for the Marsh but Lachlan Watkins stole the show with a game-high 42 touches.
Melton 3.1 5.6 9.9 15.12 (102)
Bacchus Marsh 0.2 0.5 1.8 1.9 (15)