Gold Coast scored their biggest winning margin and claimed their first AFL victory in Melbourne with a 60-point thumping of the Demons at the MCG on Sunday.
Suns skipper Gary Ablett gathered 38 possessions as the visitors triumphed 16.18 (114) to 7.12 (54) to improve their win-loss record to 3-4.
It was third-year club Gold Coast’s first win in Victoria in 10 outings.
Melbourne – with only one win in 2013 – delivered more heartbreak to their long-suffering fans with a lacklustre performance which increases the pressure on coach Mark Neeld to hold his job.
The home side did not score a goal until the second term.
Colin Sylvia’s late hit on Gold Coast’s Jared Brennan – a forearm to the head which left Brennan in a neck brace being taken off on a motorised cart – summed up a poor day for the Demons.
Demons supporters immediately started booing Sylvia, who was placed on report.
Gold Coast showed greater urgency in the opening term, leading by 33 points at the first break after kicking five goals and holding the Demons to just two behinds.
Towering forward Max Gawn booted two of Melbourne’s three majors in the second quarter but the Suns contributed another four goals of their own to extend their lead to 37 points at halftime.
By three-quarter time the margin was a massive 62 points following a five-goal term from the Suns, as they restricted the Demons to a single major in front of a small crowd of 13,304.
The Demons scored 3.2 to Gold Coast’s 2.6 in a dull final term.
Campbell Brown and ruck/forward Zac Smith kicked three goals each for the Suns while high-leaping forward Jeremy Howe booted three for the Demons.
Harley Bennell and Brennan played key roles for the Suns to set up their huge lead at three-quarter time while Rory Thompson was solid in defence.
Tough-tackling teenager Jack Viney played with plenty of spirit for the Demons and gathered 23 possessions. Viney was involved in an accidental head clash with Gold Coast’s Tom Murphy in the final term, with a bloodied Murphy carried off wearing a neck brace.
Former Collingwood key forward Chris Dawes failed to kick a goal in his first game for the Demons.
Gold Coast host Western Bulldogs next Saturday in round eight while the Demons face Richmond at the MCG the following day.
