DARLEY v LAKE WENDOUREE
Darley's Luther Baker just shaded champion teammate Brett Bewley in terms of ranking points in the Devils' win over Lake Wendouree on Saturday, but it a Lake Wendouree star that ended up with the highest ranking on the day.
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Lakers' Angus Gove was trusted with the kick-in duties, and with Darley frittering away numerous opportunities, Gove would finish the day with 41 touches, including 16 rebounds from defensive 50.
Where does Darley sit in the overall scheme of things? Right now the Devils seem to be number three on the pecking order just behind East Point and Melton, but there's plenty of scope for improvement as they chase back-to-back premierships.
Zane Le Huray down back was outstanding for Darley and should be one of those to watch in the interleague after 24 touches, 10 contested, while Brady Wright is another who will be a key to Ballarat's team against Hampden this coming weekend. He had 22 touches and 11 marks in a strong performance.
DARLEY STATS
LAKE WENDOUREE STATS
MELTON SOUTH v NORTH BALLARAT
North Ballarat would be content with a 101-point win over Melton South, but it still needs to find some more avenues to goal if it is to challenge the top teams.
Leading the way for the Roosters was Elliott Lamb who had a big day out with 35 disposals, of which 23 were contested. He also laid 11 tackles on a big afternoon in tricky conditions.
Melton South would be thrilled with the work of ruckman Broden Collins who was the second-highest rated player on the ground, mainly courtesy of his 63 hit outs.
Like Zane Le Huray and Brady Wright at Darley, Collins will be a key factor in the BFNL's interleague clash with Hampden next weekend.
Brock Leonard also continued his outstanding year for North Ballarat with 27 possessions, while Josh Sparkman had 28 touches while Nelson Troon and Malachi White were also prolific.
MELTON SOUTH STATS
NORTH BALLARAT STATS
REDAN v MELTON
The stats don't really show the dominance of Melton in this clash with Redan young gun Khy Jess the top possession getter on the field.
Jess, who is also likely to be named in the interleague squad this week finished with 36 disposals, including 32 kicks. He also had 11 tackles and 11 clearances to earn best on ground honours, despite his side's big loss.
The difference in this game lay in Melton's ability to find a target going forward, with 18 forward 50 marks to just four from the Lions.
For the Bloods Jaycob Hickey and Lachlan Watkins had big days, while the 14 clearances from Jack Walker was also a highlight.
REDAN STATS
MELTON STATS
BALLARAT v SUNBURY
So just how did the Swans do it? The upset of the year was set-up by an fantastic game from Lewis Rinaldi who had 31 touches, including 12 clearances and 12 tackles. Of those 31 possessions, 21 were contested in a complete game.
There was also a ruck dominance from the Swans with Marcus Powling having 64 hit outs across the day and let's not forget about Jack O'Brien's impact up forward. Four goals in a low-scoring contest probably was the difference.
Tyson Lever had the most touches for Sunbury, while Josh Guthrie had one of his quieter games of the season, having said that, 27 possessions is still plenty of the ball.
Across the board the statistics were fairly close, but on all the major categories, Ballarat was just ahead and that translated onto the scoreboard.
BALLARAT STATS
SUNBURY STATS
EAST POINT v BACCHUS MARSH
It was all one way traffic at Eastern Oval with East Point finishing the clash with Bacchus Marsh with 376 disposals to just 220 from Bacchus Marsh.
And it was another best-on-ground performance from Matt Johnston who finished 40 disposals, 11 clearances and three goals. He would finish with 198 ranking points, almost cracking the 200 for the third time this season.
But he had plenty of teammates around him with Jacob Brown, Jordan Taylor and Joe Dodd all getting plenty of the football.
For Bacchus Marsh, it really was a game to forget with Jack Kovacevic's 30 touches the most by a long way for his side. Interestingly though, his disposals only gave him 90 ranking points with both Rye Penny and Jake McCreery ranking much higher across the day.
EAST POINT STATS
BACCHUS MARSH STATS
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