GWS GIANTS have won their first AFL Women’s match in 378 days, leaving coach Cam Bernasconi a “bit emotional” at the final siren. The Giants mentor said he understood it was just a “Round 5 win”, but given the tough challenges of the past 12 months, it was a performance to savour.

“That’s pretty special,” Bernasconi said. “It’s funny I actually got a bit emotional and it’s a Round 5 win, but that’s how much it means to me, how much it means to them. I just think now that we’ve got that pressure off us to actually get the win, now we can just remember this feeling and we chase it every single week and I can’t wait to do that again.”

The Giants defeated the Western Bulldogs by 21 points at Manuka Oval in Canberra, and after a dire first half with just 1.7 kicked between the two sides, the orange tsunami swept in with a massive six-goal third term to boot seven majors to three in the second half and come away with the 8.2 (50) to 3.11 (29) victory.

“That’s unbelievable,” Bernasconi said of his feelings on the final siren. “I’m so proud of the girls, it’s been a long time from doing that and I think the biggest thing I’m proud about is we never wavered, we constantly continued to believe in what we were doing. We tweaked a few things, but when that final siren went, I definitely want to do that again.”

When asked about his overwhelming emotion when the game ended, he said it was “relief” which had transformed into “joy” when he saw just how much the win meant to everyone associated with the club.

“Just to see all the fans and the friends just being so happy because they’ve been on the journey with us as well. It’s been a long time since our last win, I’m just so happy for the players and everyone who stayed behind us,” Bernasconi said. “Hopefully it’s the start of many.”

Conceding it had been a tough time for anyone linked with the Giants in recent times, GWS had 51 more disposals than the Dogs, and dominated uncontested possession (170-117). They also took more marks (53 to 40) and laid 11 more tackles (52-41).

“You’re always trying to validate why things aren’t going well and you’re always telling everyone and you do get sick of it, but it’s just so nice for the playing group, all the staff, coaches, we’ve all just had each other’s back and that’s why we’ve come out the other end of it,” Bernasconi said.

“I think we’ll come out of it a really strong team post this as well because we’ve got there the right way. We never turned on each other, the leaders have been terrific, that’s probably the best win Iv’e had in my football career, and it’s Round 5 AFLW, but it’s awesome.”

There was definitely frustration on the other side of the ledger, with Western Bulldogs coach Tam Hyett describing it as the “same old story” having won the hitouts (39-5), clearances (25-20) and inside 50s (37-29) but just being unable to apply scoreboard pressure.

“We definitely gave ourselves plenty of opportunities,” she said. “I think inside 50 count we might have been plus-12. Four or five more scoring shots, but the same old story is we’re just not maximising those opportunities and executing. Getting plenty of opportunities to get the ball inside 50 but just not finishing off.”

Neither side has an easy job next week with the Giants coming up against Sydney in the ‘Battle of the Bridge’, while the Bulldogs play host to Brisbane at Whitten Oval.