The Burras were out for revenge after losing the corresponding game last year.

After the players had the loss drummed into them all week by coach Shane Robertson, they did not let him down.

The game opened in cold wintery conditions and, with a stiff breeze blowing across the ground, goal scoring was going to be hard.

It was the Burras who gained the ascendancy after Lee Cox marked and goaled.

Ballan, not to be outdone, responded and the game became a scrap, but with the James brothers dominant around the stoppages, the Burras looked to be in control.

In the second quarter, the Burra boys blew the game open, with Trevor Johnson and Alan Ware dominating across half-back and continually driving the ball forward. Cox set himself for another bag of goals and by half-time the game was all but over.

The third quarter turned into the Andy ``Hollywood'' McKay show.

Whether he was hitting his fellow forwards with pin-point passes, or kicking goals himself, Ballan had no answer to his dominance.

Midway through the quarter, Ballan pushed numbers behind the ball to try and curb the influence of Cox but to no avail.

He continually outmarked three opponents and goaled.

This made it easy for the backline and was evident when Ballan failed to trouble the scorers for the term.

The last quarter was much the same as the third and, with the game well and truly over, Robertson had the luxury of moving regular full-back Brendan Sheppherd forward, where he caused more headaches for the Ballan defence.

Final scores: Hepburn 22.19 (151) d Ballan 3.2 (20).

Best players: L.Cox, A McKay, T Johnson, A Ware, D James, J James.

Goals: L Cox 13, A McKay 4, B Sheppherd, D James, D Abbott, W Barnes, J James.