SWINGMAN Oscar Allen has booted a career-high four goals to help West Coast overcome a major scare and beat Gold Coast by 25 points at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
The Suns’ hopes of victory looked bleak when star midfielder Matt Rowell suffered a game-ending knee injury in the opening quarter.
But the visitors dug deep, overcoming West Coast’s early barrage to open up a seven-point lead early in the final quarter.
West Coast sparked into gear from that point, booting the final five goals of the match to secure the 12.11 (83) to 8.10 (58) win in front of 38,493 fans on Sunday.
Allen, who also spent significant stints in defence, finished with 4.0 from his 13 disposals and nine marks, while Dom Sheed starred with 34 disposals and nine clearances in the absence of gun onballers Luke Shuey and Elliot Yeo.
Emerging Suns forward Ben King was crucial with three goals, while veteran David Swallow finished with 29 disposals and a goal.
Rowell sent a major scare through the camp when he limped off in the opening quarter after being driven into the turf in a tackle by Eagles forward Zac Langdon.
The 19-year-old’s left knee bore the full brunt of the tackle, but coach Stuart Dew said the Suns’ medical staff didn’t believe the injury was season-ending.
West Coast made a blistering start to the match, booting three goals from their first 11 possessions to open up an 18-0 lead.
Allen booted two of them.
Only 131 seconds of game time had elapsed by that point, and the Suns looked to be in danger of copping an almighty drubbing.
Things went from bad to worse for the Suns when Rowell went off.
But the visitors put the setback to one side to work their way back into the match, and by quarter time the margin was only five points.
The second quarter was an even arm wrestle as both sides booted two goals apiece, and it was turnovers galore in a sloppy third quarter.
Gold Coast’s injury substitute Nick Holman made his mark on the game when he kicked a goal in the opening seconds of the final term to give the Suns a seven-point lead.
But it was one-way traffic after that.
West Coast regained the lead when Allen took a strong mark and kicked truly from 35m out.
Ruckman Nathan Vardy slotted a clever goal from the pocket, and the game was iced when Liam Ryan combined with Josh Kennedy for a magical one-two before nailing the 40m shot on the run.
(C) AAP 2021
WEST COAST 3.3 5.4 7.7 12.11 (83)
GOLD COAST 2.4 4.5 7.8 8.10 (58)
Goals: West Coast: O Allen 4 J Darling 2 J Kennedy 2 J Cripps J Petruccelle L Ryan N Vardy. Gold Coast: B King 3 A Sexton D Swallow L Weller N Holman T Miller.
Umpires: Jeff Dalgleish, Dan Johanson, Justin Power.
Official Crowd: 38,493 at Optus Stadium.
