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West Coast speedster Mikayla Bowen has put in a brilliant display to help lead her side to a one-point AFLW victory over Gold Coast.
West Coast have broken through for their first win of the AFLW season, posting a pulsating one-point victory over Gold Coast in front of 1119 fans at Mineral Resources Park.
West Coast led 25-11 early in the third quarter of Sunday's match despite the inside 50m count reading 22-5 in favour of Gold Coast.
The Eagles still led by eight points with just over two minutes remaining before the drama went into overdrive.
Suns forward Kalinda Howarth kicked truly to close the margin to two points, before a Jamie Stanton snap rolled just wide to make it a one-point game.
Then with 99 seconds remaining, the Suns were handed a free kick 60m out from goal when Eagles runner Jacob Brennan got in the way of play.
West Coast bravely repelled the attack and sent the ball up the other end to hold on for the 5.4 (34) to 4.9 (33) win.
"The Brennan forward 50m free kick, that will be one we talk about for a while internally I reckon," Eagles coach Daniel Pratt said with a smile.
"It feels good (to win). It's been a lot of effort and work from the girls to get to this point.
"We've had lots of injuries along the way. I'm just pleased for the reward for effort."
Eagles defender Mikayla Bowen tallied 21 disposals and a crucial final-quarter goal in a superb display, while Maddy Collier and Emma Swanson were also crucial.
Gold Coast were made to pay dearly for a series of misses, with forward Maddison Levi (0.3) and Stanton (1.3) the biggest culprits.
Eagles defender Tayla Bresland limped off late in the first quarter with a game-ending right hamstring injury.
Suns spearhead Sarah Perkins suffered a knee injury in the second quarter when Collier clattered into her in clumsy fashion, ruling her out for the rest of the match.
Gold Coast's horror display in front of goal was summed up in the third quarter when co-captain Hannah Dunn kicked into the person on the mark when taking her 15m set shot directly in front.
In the end, all those missed opportunities came back to haunt them, leaving the Suns winless after five rounds.
"I said to Hannah Dunn as the captain - that's important that you go back and put that through. That's how you lead your team," Suns coach David Lake said.
"We needed to start somewhere, and we were hoping today was our place to get a start. It's funny how one point can define how you feel about yourself."
