The Cougars pushed their favoured opponents all the way in the tight 1-0 defeat, with the Vikings forced to fight hard before breaking the deadlock in the 70^th minute via Gemma Spencer.

While the loss means the Cougars remain winless after five rounds, the result marked a huge improvement for the side which conceded 27 goals in its opening four fixtures.

Cougars coach Adam Vranesic said the result “felt like a win” for the club, who are fielding a side in the women’s division one competition for the first time in 2016.

“Sebastopol are a very good team and we knew they were going to take us on,” Vranesic said.  

“I just wanted them to focus on playing our game, because in the last games we sort of focused on playing our game for 20 minutes and then we would get dictated.

“Everyone stood up (on Sunday), from the goalkeeper to the striker.”

Creswick will look ahead to its upcoming road trip this weekend, where it will face a Warrnambool side who were clinical in the opening round encounter, pummeling the Cougars 8-0.

Vranesic said while the side were not getting ahead of themselves after the weekend’s efforts, the match had allowed them to reassess their season prospects.  

“I think there’s definitely a few games where we can get a win this season, and if we play like we did on the weekend I think we can take it to anyone.”

Elsewhere in the league Warrnambool proved too strong for the Forest Rangers away from home, comfortably taking the points 3-0, while Vic Park Blue put on an impressive display to take a point against a second placed North United outfit, drawing 1-1.

In the division one open competition, Forest Rangers continued to assert their dominance at the top of the table with a three goal triumph over second placed Warrnambool.  

The 4-1 victory at Morshead Park puts the Rangers five points clear at the top of the ladder after five rounds.

In the bottom of the table contest between Bacchus Marsh and Creswick, Bacchus Marsh were able to create a buffer between themselves and the Cougars via a 1-0 victory, clinched through a goal to Kevin Langan two minutes after the restart.

North United was able to gain its first win of the season through a 2-1 success over Vic Park, while in the final contest of the round Ballarat kept in touch with the top three via a tight 3-2 triumph over the third placed Sebastopol Vikings, with Zak Mcaninly finding the back of the net twice at Trekardo Park on Sunday.