The Rams defeated Spring Gully United 2-1, courtesy of a pair of first half goals to Zac Gilmour, from a penalty, and Thomas Cole.

Golden City led 2-1 at half time and defended stoutly in the second half to present new coach Nathan Claridge with his first win as senior coach of the Rams.

Claridge, who has joined the Rams from Eaglehawk, said it was not the prettiest of wins, but definitely one his team had been building towards for a few weeks.

“It wasn’t the greatest game to be honest, but we were pretty happy to be in front at the end,” he said.

“We played some good football and also played some of our worst for the season, but we will take the win.

“It’s been a little disappointing as we have been in front four of out of the six games we’ve played and been in a position to win them.

“We could have been on the winners’ list a bit earlier in the season, but it is what it is.”

The Rams were bolstered by the inclusion of defender Steve Robinson for his first game of the season.

With Golden City expected to add a few more signings by the season’s halfway mark, Claridge was confident of further victories.

“The trouble for us has been consistency; we’ve played well in patches, but are not able to maintain it,” he said.

“That all comes down to youth and building a new group and a bit of  culture we have to turn around.

“Now we have the first win and have a taste for it, this will definitely help us move in the right direction.”

The win was not enough for the Rams to lift themselves from the bottom of the ladder, but they are now only one point behind 10th-placed Moama-Echuca Border Raiders and two points behind the ninth-placed Reds.

Golden City has a bye this weekend, but will return in a fortnight’s time for a clash against Epsom, which has one win and one draw from its six matches.

Joshua Baum was the lone goal scorer for Spring Gully, which is scheduled to meet fifth-placed Shepparton United this weekend.

Meanwhile, Strathdale again showed why it will take plenty of catching in 2018 following a 1-0 win in its top of the ladder clash against Shepparton United.

A 65th minute goal to Stephen Barrett broke a lengthy deadlock and helped the Blues keep their six-game winning streak to start the season intact.

The Blues will get a chance to add a seventh-straight win when they host Shepparton this Sunday at Beischer No.1.

Teams are finding it difficult to penetrate an ultra-tight Strathdale defence, which has conceded just four goals this season.

Intriguingly, three of those goals came in a 4-3 opening round win against Golden City.

Daniel Purdy scored twice for Colts United in a 7-2 loss to Tatura, highlighted by a four-goal performance from star recruit Sean Grant.

Veteran Greg Thomas contributed two of Eaglehawk’s three goals in a 3-1 against Shepparton at Vilbert Reserve.

Joel Aitken was the weekend’s highest goal scorer with six in Shepparton South’s 11-0 win against Moama-Echuca.