SOCCER WRAP | Ballarat City women finally return to the field

With striker Caitlin Johnston set to miss a large portion of the State League 1 season with an ankle injury, Ballarat City's women's team needed to find a replacement quickly and they might just have succeeded if their last pre-season game is any indication.

City's 8-0 thumping win in the final pre-season game with highlighted by a spectacular performance from Lisie Dodds who slammed home six goals in what coach Tessa Patrikeos said was a huge confidence booster heading into the first round.

This weekend, Ballarat City returns to State League 1 with a clash against Brunswick Zebras away from home.

After a long pre-season, Patrikeos said her team was thrilled to once again be out on the park in a competitive contest, after being eliminated early in the Nike Cup.

"We played against Lara last week and we had a slow start, in fact it was nil-all at half time, then Lisie Dodds put three goals away in about four minutes and we just went on from there," she said.

"It was a really good hit-out to give the girls some confidence. We went out second round of the Nike Cup which was disappointing, it was nice to get some confidence back and score some goals which we struggled with in the friendlies and the Nike Cup."

Patrikeos said it was hard to know where her team stood in the competition.

"We know about Avondale and Fakwner came up with us as well, but Brunswick this week, all we really know is about where they finished last season, they were sort of bottom half of the ladder last year, but you don't know the recruits ," she said.

"We have played in State League 1 before and we know generally it's a pretty decent jump from State 2 to State 1, so we expect it'll be a pretty hot competition to be a part of, it is tricky to know team-to-team."

Patrikeos said Johnstone was waiting to see if she needed surgery on her ankle.

"We've lost Caitlin, she fractured her ankle in the first friendly of the year in January, she's still recovering and we're not sure how far away she is. She's a wait and see, if she needs surgery, it might be the whole season," she said. "Other than that, I think we're shaping up pretty well.

"The 8-0 result was great because of the clean sheet, so we've got confidence right from the back all the way up the strikers which is great."

Ballarat City clashes with Brunswick at Sumner Park from 5pm on Sunday.

BALLARAT CITY MEN v GEELONG @ Geelong

Could it be a case of a mirror image for Ballarat City's men this week up against another young, fast and skillful team in Geelong this Saturday night?

Despite a first loss of the season last weekend, Ballarat City playing coach Michael Trigger is confident his team has the capability of matching it with a team he sees a lot of similarities to his own group.

"It's a really good match-up for us, because they are a young team like us, they are ball playing team like us and they play on a really good facility, the kick off is 6pm on a Saturday night, again like us, regionally based, it's a great marker where we are at," he said.

"I've talked a few times about the resiliance and capability of our team to get through adversity, all indications are that last week was a blip and we keep moving.

"I'm really comfortable about where we are at. We love playing night games, it's perfect for us."

City will go into the game with limited changes with no fresh injuries after last week's game at Clifton Hill. Dan Angeleski is the only player missing from the starting line-up after his picked up a yellow card in round two.

Trigger said he felt the game would be fast paced throughout.

"It's a game of who can execute their game plan the best will be the one who comes out on top," he said. "They play a similar shape to us, it'll be a super interesting game, we're not going to change the way we play because they play a similar way to us.

"We'll go out there with the mentality of, 'can we do it better than them?' If we do, we deserve to win the game."

Saturday night's clash at Stead Park gets underway at 6pm.

SEBASTOPOL VIKINGS v ALTONA NORTH @ Altona North

After seven points out of nine in its first three home games of the season, the Sebastopol Vikings go on their first road trip this weekend when they travel to face Altona North.

It was an impressive 2-1 performance at home last round from the Vikings and they will be keen to maintain that good form against a side which has yet to taste victory.

Last weekend, Altona North and Williamstown played out a 2-2 draw in a physical derby encounter. In that match, there were eight players who picked up yellow cards, four from each side in a clash that saw one goal to each team in each half.

In a remarkable quirk of the fixture, this match will be the first league game that the Vikings have been on the road this season.

The match will be held on Saturday afternoon at Duane Reserve.

BALLARAT SC v GISBORNE @ Gisborne

After picking up its first win of the season last round, Ballarat SC hits the road again to face Gisborne as it looks to get back into the top half of the State League 5 West ladder.

This week's opponent has a 1-1-1 record and last weekend also picked up its first win of the season with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Spring Hills, with Lachlan Skene scoring the winner in the second half.

Ballarat SC will be looking to maintain its defensive form from last weekend. The club has conceded a competition-worst 12 goals in the three matches so far and will need to quickly turn that around to get back towards the top of the table.

Saturday's match is at Gisborne from 3pm

After Friday night's blockbuster opening between Vikings and Ballarat in both men's and women's competitions, there are a host of big games that will complete the Ballarat District Soccer Association season on Sunday.

The opening round of the men's competition features Victoria Park at home at Daylesford and Hepburn United, Ballarat North United facing off with Maryborough and Forest Ranges clashing with Bacchus Marsh.

The women's competition sees Ballarat North United meeting up with Creswick while Forest Ranges host Ballarat White.