Tara Murray
It was a winning return to interleague for the Ballarat Football League coming away with the trophy against the Hampden Football League.
The best under-23 players from each competition faced off at Mars Stadium, coached by former AFL players Anthony Koutoufides (Ballarat FL) and Jonathan Brown (Hampden FL).
The Sunbury Lions had the most representatives for the BFL, with six players making the final 22 in the first interleague game since COVID-19.
It was a slow start to the game with it taking 12 minutes for either side to get on the board.
The Hampden side was able to get the ascendency once they started scoring, leading 29-18 at the first break.
The Ballarat team got going in the second quarter and were able to kick five goals to one in the term to lead by 15 points at the main break.
The Ballarat team was slightly wasteful in the third quarter as the Hampden side kept themselves in the game.
Cody Brand had a shot after the siren to give his side a 17 point lead heading into the final quarter but it went to the right.
The Ballarat side again had plenty of opportunities in the final quarter but weren’t able to make the most of them.
The final quarter finished with three goals apiece as the Ballarat side won, 13.13 (91)-11.9 (75).
Melton’s Kyle Borg kicked three goals for the BFL, with the Sunbury Lions Jake Sutton and East Point’s Liam Canny kicking two goals apiece.
Sebastopol’s Riley O’Keefe was named best on ground.
Earlier in the day, the Hampden side won the under-17 match up, winning 9.11 (65)-4.6 (30).
