The Bulldogs moved to 2-0 with a desperately-fought 44-43 victory, which handed the gallant Roos their second narrow defeat this season against both of last season's grand finalists.

Kangarooo Flat was beaten by just five goals in round one by reigning premiers Sandhurst.

Roos skipper Chelsea Sartori described the move of reigning Betty Thompson Medal winner Maddy Stewart back into defence for the Bulldogs in the second half as 'game changing'.

For her part, Stewart was quick to laud an all-round team effort in the Bulldogs' impressive win over an undoubted premiership contender.

"Kangaroo Flat started really well and at one point led by five or six goals, but we slowly pegged that back to be up by a few goals at three quarter time and then managed to hold on at the end," she said.

"It was 'heart in the mouth' at the end, but we were confident as long as we could keeping doing what had given us that lead.

"It was a pretty consistent effort all over the court. Holly Doricic came on to goal attack and played really well in the second half and provided something different for us and Tiana Newman was pretty consistent through the middle as well."

Despite the narrow loss, Sartori drew plenty of encouragement from the result, in particular identifying what would be needed going forward to challenge the likes of Gisborne and reigning premiers Sandhurst.

"We had a lot of opportunities, but once again our third quarter let us down," she said.

"We couldn't touch them last year.

"Moving forward we can't afford to have lapses against quality sides like Gisborne. We had plenty of opportunities to beat them Saturday but made too many unforced errors.

"Our intensity on court needs to be there for the entire 60 minutes especially when you're playing one of the leagues best sides.

"We did the same against Sandhurst, lapsed in the third and then we had to play catch up in the last."

A further positive for the Roos was the continued strong form of defensive recruit and former Charlton and Pyramid Hill premiership star Kate Burton.

"Kate was a standout. Her work rate on court is hands down the best in our team -such a great player to play alongside," Sartori said.

In other games, Strathfieldsaye broke through for its first win of the season and second only since the start of the 2018 season with a 46-35 victory over Golden Square, Sandhurst over-powered South Bendigo 62-28, while Eaglehawk won 50-36 at Maryborough.

Hawks joint coach Mali Roberts said despite a few player losses, her side was determined to play a 'consistent and solid' game after sharing the points last week against South Bendigo.

"We have had players down since the start of the season but we have used these opportunities for other players to play up," she said.

"All our girls are doing a great job.

"Allira (Holmes) and I are are happy that we are gradually getting our full sides back, bit by bit, as it has obviously put a lot of pressure on other players to play through injury or play multiple games et cetera to help out.

"Maryborough is a tough team and always have been.

"They have strong and consistent players all over the court. I think that is what makes them a good team - well meshed and a lot of trust between them."

The Hawks did regain defensive recruit and 2012 premiership player Lauren Miller, who fared well in her first outing back in the double blue.

Attention for Eaglehawk will now turn to reigning premiers Sandhurst in two weeks' time following a round four bye.

"It will be good to have the week off in order to give our injured players a rest and time to recover more before Sandhurst," Roberts said.

"We are looking forward to seeing how we match up."

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