SOCCER WRAP | City women soar, men in costly defeat

Ballarat City has picked up its second win of the State League 1 women's season with a hard-fought 2-1 win at home against Kings Domain.

City went one goal down early in the first half, but were gifted an equaliser when Kings Domain scored an own goal in the 20^th minute.

Lisie Dodds scored for the home side in 44^th minute to give Ballarat City the lead, and it turned out to be enough for them to hold on.

Coach Tessa Patrikeos said she was thrilled with the performance, praising goal keeper Lisa Hill for her outstanding work in keeping the opposition out when they threatened.

"It was a tight game, both teams had chances in the second half but didn't capitalise," she said.

"Lisa Hill, had her best game of the season and pulled off a very important save in the last 10 minutes of the game.

"We're extremely happy to get our second win of the season."

Ballarat City his the road to take on North Geelong as part of Female Football Week

"Female Football Week (FFW) is a nationwide initiative to celebrate the immense growth of women's football at all levels of the game and acknowledge and promote women's important role in developing our game." Patrikeos said.

"The theme #WeRise is a celebration of Australian women's football, as we rise together to elevate women and girls, highlighting the sense of community both on and off the field."

Ballarat City Men 3 def by Brimbank Stallions 4

Ballarat City's men have let slip a golden opportunity to consolidate themselves near the top of the State League 1 ladder, giving up a three-goal lead to lose at home to Brimbank Stallions 4-3.

City looked in complete control in the first half with goals from Zac Francis, Ronaldino Salvatrore but failed but gave up a late goal to give the Stallions a chance at half time.

After the break, Brimbank came out all attack, and despite ending up a man down, managed to score three times in the second half to break Ballarat City's heart.

It always loomed as a tough task for the Ballarat City players given it was their third game in eight days, including a tough fifth-round Dockerty Cup match on Wednesday night against Green Gully.

The home loss though could be costly come the end of the season with Ballarat City now sitting five points behind the top two teams, Whittlesea United and Westgate.

Next round Ballarat City hits the road to take on Upfield in what looms as a must-win game. Upfield has just four points so far on the season with just one win from its six games played so far.

Sebastopol Vikings 0 def by Bundoora United 1

A tough few weeks has become even tougher for the Sebastopol Vikings, going down 1-0 to Bundoora United in their State League 3 clash on Saturday.

Thomas Andrews' second-half strike was all that could separate the sides as the Vikings went down narrowly again.

While the Vikings picked up seven points from their first three matches, all at home, it's been a tough couple of weeks since with two narrow losses, including last week's heartbreaker to top-team Laverton.

The Vikings seven points so far on the season have them in eighth position on the ladder. Next week they hit the road again to face the Brunswick Zebras, a team that so far has eight points on the season and sits just two positions ahead on the table. The Zebras lost 2-0 to Western Eagles at the weekend.

Ballarat SC had the bye in State League 5.

It's a three-way race out on top of the Ballarat District Soccer Association Division 1 ladder with Ballarat North United, Vikings and Creswick all undefeated after the first three rounds of competition.

In the match of the round, Vikings were impressive against another side yet to lose in Forest Rangers, winning well 4-1, Ballarat North United was also solid with a 3-1 win over Bacchus Marsh while Creswick continued its fine start to the season with a hard-fought 4-2 win over Daylesford and Hepburn United. The other winner in round three was Ballarat which picked up its first points of the season with a high-scoring 7-3 win over Victoria Park.

In the women's competition, Vikings maintained their position on the top of the ladder with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Forest Rangers, while there were no scores submitted for the other two matches.