Ballarat City has suffered its first defeat of season 2024, going down 2-1 away from home against Clifton Hill.

The clash against an experienced opponent always looked likely to be a difficult one with the small pitch playing into the home side's favour and not allowing Ballara City to play its usual style.

Both sides went into half time locked at nil-all, but Clinton Hill were able to put two on the board before Ballarat finally scored through playing coach Michael Trigger in the 80^th minute.

Ballarat City then threw caution to the wind in the final 10 minutes, but was unable to find the equaliser.

Trigger said while it was a disappointing result, there was plenty to take away from it.

"It's not what we were looking for in terms of result, but performance wise, we were quite pleased with the ways the boys performed," he said.

"You've got to take your wins and your losses with a grain of salt, not get too excited when you win and not get too down when you lose, that's certainly our approach."

Trigger said the match was competitive from the start with little separating the sides.

"It was a really competitive game," he said. "It's a very small pitch which made it quite difficult from a football perspective. The boys battled hard, one bit of quality from them got them 1-0 up and one lapse of concentration from us got their second goal..

"We scored about 10-15 minutes to go. We threw caution to the wind as you do in those situations, but we didn't get that chance to get another.

"I felt we were running on top of them in the last few minutes, but they are a very experienced team and they managed the game out to a close pretty effectively."

While Ballarat City is on the road for its next three games, two league games and a cup game, Trigger said he was excited about the opportunity playing in Geelong, Whittlesea and Green Gully, knowing the pitches were bigger and more suited to Ballarat City's game.

Sebastopol Vikings 2 def Diamond Valley United 1

Goals either side of half time to Lachlan Wright and Pat Karras has allowed Sebastopol to continue its unbeatn start to the State League 3 season, hanging on for a 2-1 win over Diamond Valley United.

After three successive games to open the season at home, the Vikings have secured seven points and second position on the State League 3 ladder, just two points behind the unbeaten Laverton, who look the early form side of the competition.

The Vikings are getting the job done with consistent play, rather than explosive play, having scored six goals in their three matches played so far.

Saturday's match was a free-flowing, open game with both teams having opportunities. Just one yellow card was handed out for the game, with the contest allowing both teams to play their brand of football.

The Vikings now prepare to hit the road for the first time this coming week with a tricky clash against Altona North. Altona has been competitive in its first three matches, but has yet to secure full points, having had two draws and a loss.

The following week, the Vikings return home in what could be a top-of-the-table clash against a barnestorming Laverton, which has so far slammed home 12 goals from its three games, for three wins.

Ballarat SC 2 def Maidstone United 1

Ballarat SC is off the bottom of the State League 5 ladder after a thrilling come-from-behind win over Maidstone United on Saturday.

Ballarat trailed 1-0 at the half-time break after Maidstone's Lynton Pietersen opened the scoring, but Ballarat wouldn't be denied this time and hit back in the second half with goals to Brendan Pym and Charlie Thompson giving the team its first victory of the season.

The win will be a relief for Ballarat who had struggled defensively in its opening two matches, conceding 10 goals in losses to Lara United and Deakin University. Both of those sides are looming as the side's to beat, particularly Lara United which is clear on top of the ladder.

Ballarat hits the road to face Gisborne in the next round. Gisborne so far has a 1-1-1 record on the season.