The Western Bulldogs survived an early scare before securing back-to-back AFL victories with a dogged 42-point win over Greater Western Sydney at Canberra’s Manuka Oval on Saturday.

The 15.14 (104) 9.8 (62) victory keeps AFL’s newest franchise winless after five rounds, but Kevin Sheedy’s men came the closest yet to their first ever premiership points.

A five-goal haul to Giants youngster Jeremy Cameron was the standout performance of the day, while GWS also claimed a milestone by winning their first ever quarter.

Leading 16-5 at the first break, they also managed to keep the struggling Dogs goalless, a feat that made a breakthrough AFL win seem tantalisingly possible at their adopted home ground.

In contrast, the Dogs played arguably their worst quarter of the year, endlessly overusing the ball in attack to allow the Giants to ricochet back to their forward 50.

But it took just moments into the second term to snap the Dogs out of their reverie and they kicked three goals within the first 11 minutes to snatch the lead.

They finished the quarter with eight goals to three for a 22-point buffer at halftime.

It was a margin that only grew in the second half.

While the Giants were competitive, with Luke Power and Phil Davis particularly impressive in defence, they were unable to rein in the Bulldogs.

In the final quarter they could only manage one goal to the Dogs’ three, but on the plus side, a 42-point loss is their smallest losing margin.

For the Bulldogs, Ryan Griffen was the most prolific, finishing with 37 disposals, while skipper Matthew Boyd and Daniel Cross also had excellent form.

The victory gave the Dogs the first Prime Minister’s Cup win in front of 9128 fans.