Sarah Oliver
Cross-town rivals Melton South and Melton will face off in round one of the Ballarat Football Netball League season.
The league released the fixture on Tuesday, with the first round kicking off on Saturday April 9.
In a statement, the league said this season is hoped to build on the momentum from the 2021 season that was cut short, with a full fixture of 18 rounds plus finals planned.
In keeping with tradition, all clubs will play 16 games and have two scheduled byes.
In other key round one matches, Bacchus Marsh will face off against the Ballarat and Darley will play against Sebastopol.
Round two is split across the following weekends, with Lake Wendouree to host Redan on Good Friday, being the first match of the round.
Melton South will play against the Ballarat Swans on Easter Saturday, April 23, while arch rivals Darley and Bacchus Marsh face off and Melton plays Sunbury to round out round two.
There will be a bye weekend for the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, with Bacchus Marsh hosting Sunbury as a standalone game that weekend.
Details of night and twilight games will be advised after discussions with the clubs in the lead up to the start of the season.
Finals will kick off in late August, with week one on August 27 and 28, week two on September 3 and 4 and week three on Saturday September 10.
The grand final will be on Saturday September 17.
