A six-goal streak stretching across halftime gave Gold Coast a scrappy 30-point win over Greater Western Sydney on Saturday night, their first AFL win at home.
Skipper Gary Ablett, Campbell Brown and Aaron Hall were instrumental for a depleted Suns outfit in their 16.13 (109) to 12.7 (79) win in front of a crowd of 14,657.
The Suns’ trio scored three goals apiece and stood out among a group of eight goal-scorers.
Gold Coast went into the clash between the two bottom-placed sides with six players ruled out through injury from last Sunday’s loss to Melbourne, but outclassed the Giants right across the park.
The Suns’ second victory of the season also leapfrogs them over the Giants to 17th on the ladder through for-and-against.
The Giants were lucky to be only trailing by 13 at halftime as the Suns began to assert more control over the match in the second quarter.
However, instead of turning 17 first-half inside-50s into a dominant lead, a lack of goal-scoring accuracy resulted in the home side kicking five consecutive behinds instead.
But the Suns’ precision improved considerably in the third quarter, kicking three rapid-fire goals within the first three minutes – followed by three more in the quarter – to blow their lead out to 44.
But the Giants refused to give in, pulling the margin back to 17 in the final quarter before Ablett scored two late goals.
For the Giants, Hoskin-Elliott (five goals, 16 disposals) and Jonathan Giles (38 hit-outs, 12 disposals) were the best in a beaten side.