Saints take long-awaited first win of AFLW season after 336-day losing streak

St Kilda have 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.

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The Saints had not won a game since March 28, 2021.

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 finals.

St Kilda’s Tilly Lucas-Rodd (21 disposals, nine tackles) impressed through 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 part way 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