THE Gold Coast Suns walked away four-point victors after their clash against the Sydney Swans at Henson Park on Saturday. The win marked their first for the season, following a thrilling finish to match the high stakes for both sides.

Coming into the contest, Sydney had only won two games, feeling the effects of an injury-riddled season. The Suns on the other hand have been playing for pride, having not been as competitive as the outfit was last season.

Taking the four points home, the Gold Coast have now got themselves off the bottom of the AFLW ladder and will stay off it if the Crows beat Collingwood on Sunday.

For Suns head coach Cameron Joyce, the win signified reward for effort for his side considering the close losses that they have forfeited this season.

“Probably we wouldn’t do it another other way at the moment,” Joyce admitted post-game.

“We’ve been in now seven games, within a couple of kicks for the season, or six out of eight so it’s been that sort of season where it’s been really close and really even.

“[I’m] super proud of how the group’s really stuck at it this year and stayed together and also in the last quarter, we get ourselves in a position where we are sort of a couple up and then they wheel it in and then they get in front with three minutes to go, we were able to respond.

“I think [they] are just really good signs for us going forward, people might not necessarily see it right now, but they’ll definitely see it in the future around the fight that this group has.”

The end of the match was thrilling, with leadership group member Jacqui Dupuy slotting the matchwinner with a minute on the clock, then followed up her effort with a game-saving mark to halt a last ditch effort to go forward from the opposition.

Joyce paid credit to Dupuy, who was dropped this earlier this season, for her ability to play an important role in their win.

“Obviously ‘Dup’s’ snap was unbelievable, in the circumstances and under pressure, we were able to get one behind the ball and she was able to mark the ball and save the ball behind the ball,” he said.

“We felt like we had the right structure that we needed both to try and win the game and then to try and hold the lead and the girls executed, which was great.”

He went into more detail about Dupuy as a leader on and off-the field and how she is able to perform so well under pressure for her team.

“She’s just so important in terms of a key leader for us, someone that steps up in those moments for us and the reality is that we use her in those roles because we know that she can perform and she can do that under pressure,” Joyce said.

“I was rapt for her to get on the end of that a couple of times late and as I said, to be able to get us in front and then to save it as well.”

Undoubtably, the Sun that was able to get them to the win before Dupuy’s heroics was milestone Sun Claudia Whitfort. Celebrating her 50th game on return from three games off due to concussion, she was prolific, amassing 22 disposals, 10 clearances and five tackles.

Joyce spoke about her impact, not only on the contest but on the way her team is able to play.

“It was just great, obviously she’s been out for three games now, off the back of concussion, it’s never the same or never easy coming back from concussion and she just hit the ground running from the word go today,” he continued.

“She just provides so much for our midfield in terms of just being able to break it up. She’s a linebreaker, she kicks the ball over distance.

“She just really adds to what we’ve got in there in terms of adding with Charlie [Rowbottom] and then Daisy [D’Arcy] and then Lucy [Single] provides as well, it was just a really good mix in there today.

“We had our work cut out for us because the Swans were good around the contest and so it ebbed and flowed in there, I was really pleased with how [Whitfort] performed in her 50th game.”