It was a sense of relief for Melton after turning its form into a win in Ballarat Football League.
The Bloods had won just one of their first six matches as they faced most of the top teams in the first third of the season.
Now facing sides that are around them on the ladder, Bloods coach Brad Murphy is hoping they can launch their season.
On Saturday they took the first step, with a comprehensive win against Sebastopol.
It was an even first quarter, before the Bloods stamped their authority.
They kept the Burras goal-less in two of the last three quarters in the 15.12 (102)-4.16 (40) win.
For Murphy, it’s a performance that he saw coming.
“I think we’ve been building towards it. The results haven’t been great but we’ve played the top four sides.
“I think we’ve been competitive, but just haven’t had the class.
“It’s been hard to sell the message to the boys that they’ve been going okay.
“We had an honest discussion during the week and it’s a good sign for a coach for them to respond.”
Murphy said they had identified during the week that the Burras weren’t a high scoring team so if they shut down their forward line it would go a long way to winning.
He said the job of Riley Walker to keep Michael Powell goal-less was a big reason for the win.
Angus Grigg kicked three goals for the Bloods, in his best return for the season, while Blake Souter kicked two goals.
Souter and Connor Griffiths were two of the players who Murphy asked to step up during the week. Griffiths responded and was best on ground. The Bloods side yesterday had eight players that were under-20 in a good sign for the future.
Another one of the younger players to step up was Lachlan Walker. Walker was named during the week in the Worksafe AFL Victoria Country Senior under-19 representative squad to take on the Victoria Amateur Football Association.
With a second win under their belts, Murphy said they were hoping to add a couple more wins in the next few weeks to keep their finals alive.
“The next three weeks we are playing teams which are around us on the ladder, fighting for fifth and sixth spot,” he said.
“If we win the next two or three games in the next few weeks, it holds us in good stead heading into the back end of the season.
“Our best footy is finals worthy and we just have to get there.”
