ST KILDA has held off a surging Gold Coast to win their first game of the AFLW season by three points and strike a hammer blow to the Suns’ finals hopes.
The last-placed Saints led by 24 points early in the match but had to grit their teeth late as Suns forward Sarah Perkins spurned two chances to steal victory in the final two minutes.
With the 5.4 (34) to 4.7 (31) victory at Trevor Barker Beach Oval, St Kilda shook off Wednesday’s after-the-siren loss to GWS but remain bottom of the ladder.
The Suns are within touching distance of the top six but their poor percentage means they must win their final two games and rely on other results to make the finals.
St Kilda’s Tilly Lucas-Rodd (21 disposals, nine tackles) impressed through the midfield while Cat Phillips (17 disposals) and Tarni White (15 touches, seven tackles) were typically hard-working.
Tara Bohanna kept the Suns in the match with three goals, while defender Vivien Saad (14 touches, four marks) and midfielder Jaimee Stanton (16 disposals) worked hard all day.
St Kilda burst out of the blocks with four unanswered goals across the first two quarters, with two coming directly from Gold Coast turnovers.
The Saints suffered a major blow partway through the opening term when Rhi Watt was forced off with a knee injury, with Jacqui Vogt deployed in the ruck.
After Kate Shierlaw gave St Kilda a four-goal lead early in the second term, the Suns found a foothold in the game through Bohanna and Perkins.
The Suns trailed by 16 points at the final change but the brilliant Bohanna created two goals, including beating two St Kilda defenders for her third of the game, to cut the deficit to five.
With less than two minutes to go, Perkins received a free kick for a ruck infringement, but pushed her set shot wide.
Barely a minute later, Perkins took a massive mark from close range and had a more straightforward chance to win the match, but missed again.
(C) AAP 2022
