Benjamin Millar
A strong start off the blocks helped see Melton come home with the points in a scrappy victory over Ballarat in the Ballarat Football League on Saturday.
Melton 7.9(51) beat Ballarat 6.8(44) in a see-sawing Macpherson Park encounter where the team playing with the wind held the field and scoring advantage through most of the match.
The Bloods took a handy three-goal lead into quarter-time after kicking 3.1 and holding the Swans to a solitary point.
Despite some wayward kicking at goal Ballarat fought back in the second quarter to sit within two points at the main break, lamenting missed opportunities at 2.7(19) to Melton’s 3.3(21).
Melton stretched the lead to 13 at three quarter time and held on win by seven points to cement outright second place on the ladder behind in-form North Ballarat, Braedan Kight kicking three goals for the game and Luke Heaney chiming in with two.
Bloods coach Aaron Tymms said the stiff breeze was strongest in the first half and dropped a little as the match wore on.
“It was a bit of a scrappy hit-out, it’s hard to take much away from it as it was a pretty scrappy game, but were able to get over the top in the end.”
Tymms is happy to see the team sitting in second place after nine rounds, but wants to land some bigger blows on quality opposition.
“We still haven’t taken a big scalp yet, we beat Sebastapol by one and other than that we’ve been beaten by North and East, in saying that the comp has been pretty even.”
With only one win separating third from eighth on the ladder in the 11-team competition, Tymms knows complacency at this point could hurt a team in such a closely-fought season.
“We only have to drop one or two games and we’re right down the back, it’s good as you don’t often see such an even comp.”
Despite North Ballarat sitting a game clear at the top of the table with eight wins and one loss, Tymms sees the key threat coming from elsewhere.
“I still think East Point are the best side in the comp, they will be right there at the pointy end,” he said.
“North are playing a really good brand of footy up there, but East for me are still the top quality side.”
In other matches Bacchus Marsh 8.7(55) edged out Sebastopol 7.7(49), North Ballarat 20.12(132) thumped Melton South 7.9(51) and Lake Wendouree 11.9(75) kept Darley 6.5(41) winless for the season.
This Saturday Darley take on Redan at City Oval, Melton host Lake Wendouree at MacPherson Park, Melton South at home to East Point at Melton Recreation Reserve and Bacchus Marsh travel to Clarke Oval to take on Sunbury.
