Melton secured its biggest win of the Ballarat Football League season, knocking off East Point by 17 points on Saturday.
The Bloods set the win up in a blistering first half in which they booted nine goals to East Point’s four.
But after holding a 32-point lead at half-time, Melton had to fend off a spirited fightback.
East Point closed the margin to 20 points at three-quarter-time and was coming home with the wind for the final 30 minutes.
But Melton steadied and kicked a goal late in the fourth term to seal a 11.12 (78)-9.7 (61) win.
Melton coach Brad Murphy admitted there were nervous moments in the second half.
“We were five or six goals up at half-time and I was pretty happy,” Murphy said.
“We had the wind in the third quarter and I expected us to extend that to an eight or nine and make it difficult for them to peg it back.
“But we went to sleep a little bit and thought the wind was going to do it for us. “
Leading the charge for Melton was captain Jake Gleeson, who has been named his side’s outright best player three times in the first four games of the season.
“I’m that proud of that man … he’s an out-and-out superstar,” Murphy said.
“He doesn’t get the respect he deserves from other coaches or even through interleague.
“His hardness, his toughness, his physicality and his demands on his teammates to be better, it is what a real captain is. He’s a fantastic captain and a fantastic player.”
On the back of the win, Melton moved to third place on the BFL ladder with a 3-1 record.
Following a break for the interleague match against the WRFL this week, the Bloods will take on Bacchus Marsh in round six.
