The Rangers ticked a major box on Sunday, defeating 2016 finalist Forest Rangers 2-1 at Wendouree, showing poise and holding their nerve in a tough contest.

“Eight rounds into it now, to have six wins and a draw and a loss, it really just cements our belief that we are a finals team and we will prepare for them in the coming weeks,” coach Cameron Pyke said. “The win puts us up to equal first with Sebastopol, who we drew with.”

On Sunday, the Warrnambool side worked its way back into the contest after Forest had the upper hand in the first 20-30 minutes.

“We ended up getting a goal about the 35th minute thanks to Isaac Slater, our co-captain. He’s been playing further up the field than he’s used to,” Pyke said.

Warrnambool went into half-time up 1-nil, but the coach said they knew they would have their work cut out for them to keep the advantage in the second half.

Forest scored a leveler in the 60th minute, pouncing on a stray pass in Warrnambool’s defence that opened the visitors up.

But the Warrnambool men showed a new level of composure, keeping their heads and eventually scoring the advantage.

“In years prior, if we were to concede a goal like we did, we would’ve gone back into our shells and not looked to take the win,” Pyke said.

“(Then) Tom Sheehan got probably one of the best goals I’ve seen, to be honest.”

Sheehan took his kick from the left wing, crossed it in beautifully despite the wind and rain and managed to sneak it in the top corner, over the Forest keeper.

With 15 minutes to play, Warrnambool showed nerves of steel to hold strong against a big challenge from Forest and post a win.

Pyke hopes to see his charges keep their winning form running when they take on North United this Saturday at Jones Oval.