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Gold Coast beat Tigers for first AFLW win

3 minute read

Gold Coast have beaten Richmond by 11 points in hot and humid conditions at Metricon Stadium to notch their first AFLW victory.

Gold Coast have become the first AFLW expansion team to register a win for the season, defeating fellow newcomers Richmond by 11 points at Metricon Stadium.

The Suns impressed on Saturday with a strong running game and precision kicking, treating the 7071 strong home crowd to a 5.3 (33) to 2.10 (22) win.

After playing last week in dismal, wet conditions, the quick Gold Coast team relished the opportunity to play attacking football.

Jamie Stanton (20 disposals and a goal) and Lauren Ahrens (16 disposals) impressed in the engine room, while Kate Surman's two goals were critical to their first home win.

Richmond kept pace early thanks to first-quarter goals to Tayla Stahl and Christina Bernardi, but the Tigers could not score a goal for the rest of the game.

They dominated forward territory in the second half, particularly in the final quarter, but poor conversion cost them any chance of a comeback.

Suns coach David Lake praised his team's midfielders and forwards' ability to create good scoring opportunities.

"Obviously, the conditions were a little bit more conducive to playing good footy. I also thought we learnt a little bit from last week," Lake said.

While happy with their attack, Lake praised the team's defensive efforts when the Tigers came home strongly in the last quarter.

"I was happy with the defenders, but probably just as happy with the forwards. The forwards pushed up; the mids got down; we made sure we played even number in that area once they started to get a bit of momentum," he said.

Richmond created plenty of opportunities, mainly thanks to strong games from Pheobe Monahan (21 disposals), Monique Conti and Sarah Sansonetti (20 disposals each), but it wasn't enough to lift their team to victory.

Tigers coach Tom Hunter lamented his team's inability to convert their forward entries.

"I think we attacked the game really well. We just couldn't quite capitalise inside forward 50m," he said.

"I think we grew a lot over the course of the week. We're going to continue to get better.

"We just got to make sure that once the ball goes in there, we're either kicking a goal or we're creating another stoppage to give us more opportunities to score.

Richmond face a tough prospect next week when they face North Melbourne at Ikon Park, while Gold Coast will look to build on their win when they face Brisbane.

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