Ballarat too good for BJFL in annual inter-league challenge

The home side won all six matches comfortably, with the BJFL goalless in four of the six games.

The combined scores across the six matches was 68.76 (484) to 3.24 (42).

The one-sided nature of the contests was in stark contrast to the corresponding carnival in 2021 where the BJFL and Ballarat won three matches each.

Two of the BJFL's three wins in 2021 came in the under-16 girls and under-18 girls matches, but this year they weren't competitive and didn't score in either contest.

BJFL operations manager Nathan Williams said it would be unfair to judge the league on the scorelines.

"The final scores didn't reflect the games,'' Williams said.

"The games weren't as bad the scores looked. The players were more than competitive in their approach to the games.

"Travelling is a factor as well, we haven't done that for a while and some of these kids haven't experienced inter-league.

"We had a different structure in the girls games this year. We've had under-14 introduced into our academy, so we gave them an opportunity to step up and play in the under-16 game.

"As a result of that we had some of the under-16 girls step up and play in the under-18 girls game. We had very young sides in the under-18 girls and under-16 girls."

The BJFL hosts Shepparton in an inter-league challenge at Strathfieldsaye on Saturday, June 19.

The leagues will do battle in under-12, 13, 14, 15 boys and in under-18 girls.

Scores from Saturday's matches between the BJFL and Ballarat:

UNDER-13 BOYS

Ballarat 11.6 (72) def Bendigo 0.4 (4)

Best - Bendigo: not supplied.

UNDER-14 BOYS

Ballarat 10.9 (69) def Bendigo 1.11 (17)

Goals - Bendigo: Xavier Grant.

Best - Bendigo: Xavier Grant, Joel Turner, Ben Miller, Angus Hoyne, Campbell Wood, Tyson Taylor.

UNDER-15 BOYS

Ballarat 10.15 (75) def Bendigo 2.4 (16)

Goals - Bendigo: Zach Whelan 2.

Best - Bendigo: not supplied.

UNDER-16 BOYS

Ballarat 10.15 (75) def Bendigo 0.5 (5)

Best - Bendigo: Jesse Gill, Thomas Ford, Bailie Gahan, Kaian Constable, Isaac Meersbergen.

UNDER-16 GIRLS

Ballarat 19.17 (131) def Bendigo 0.0 (0)

Best - Bendigo: not supplied.

UNDER-18 GIRLS

Ballarat 8.14 (62) def Bendigo 0.0 (0)

Best - Bendigo: Nadia Peebles, Gemma Roberts, Tahlia Kendall, Nikola Cox, Courtney Gibson.

Read more: All the scores, goals and best players from the weekend's BJFL matches

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