TWO trys against in the opening three minutes had alarm bells going off for the Ballarat coaching staff, but as has been the case in the first few weeks of the year, the Highlanders found a way to score an important win.
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The 31-22 victory over Eltham at Doug Dean Reserve made it three in a row for the Highlanders and was sealed in the 75th minute when Brendan Mudzikitiri crossed the line.
Coach Mitch Cattell was full of praise for the team after the poor start.
"We obviously didn't start the way we wanted to and we were against the wind in the second half, so we had to shorten our passes, play with more direction," he said.
"We managed to score a couple of trys out wide and we thought we'd chance our arm.
"I said to the boys that they have a way of making it hard for themselves, but we got the win."
Cattell said full back Ryan Spedding, Mudzikitiri and Will Auo, who came off the bench and steadied the ship at the 10 position guided the team home.
"Will Auo is normally the fly half and he controlled the game well, played at a fast pace and got us moving."
The Highlanders hit the road to play arch rivals Melton who they defeated in the 2016 grand final.
"It's a 50-50 game, historically we've won a close one there and they've won close ones here. It's away, so hopefully it's our turn."
