Positive signs for work in progress

PORT Adelaide has won consecutive games in a season for the first time since 2010.

PORT Adelaide has won consecutive games in a season for the first time since 2010.

And in downing Gold Coast by 48 points at Metricon Stadium yesterday, the Power has already matched last season's "grand" wins total of three - after just nine rounds.

Port backed up last week's miraculous come-from-behind victory against North Melbourne with a scintillating second half against the Suns to ease much of the pressure on embattled coach Matthew Primus.

Trailing by one point early in the third term, the Power blew Gold Coast away with a devastating seven-goal burst in 14 minutes, which included five goals in six minutes, to break the game open.

The win breathes more life into Port's season, which was in danger of collapsing when it slumped to six consecutive defeats between rounds two and seven to put second-year coach Primus under the gun.

 It also went some way to atoning for last year's round-five AAMI Stadium meltdown, when the Power became the Suns' first AFL scalp.

 Gold Coast remains winless this season and has still not won in 12 tries at Metricon.

Port - which kicked its highest score of the season (17.16) - is still very much a work in progress. But its third quarter, following last week's late, late show, showed it is capable of playing some fine football.

The challenge now is to do it for four quarters.

Port was yesterday locked in a titanic struggle before the improving Matthew Broadbent kick-started its goal surge five minutes into the third term.

His clever snap was followed five minutes later by Daniel Stewart's only major. Then Port ran riot, reeling off five goals in just over six minutes in a repeat of last week's extraordinary comeback against the Kangaroos.

Travis Boak and Danyle Pearce - two players who have been under the spotlight for under-performing this year - led the onslaught with superb midfield displays as Port seized a match-winning 48-point advantage at the last change.

The Suns fought back hard early in the last quarter but the damage had been done.

Apart from Boak (28 disposals and three goals) and Pearce (28), Kane Cornes performed a strong stopping job on Suns superstar Gary Ablett, Brad Ebert was again excellent in the midfield, Broadbent kicked two goals from 25 disposals and Brett Ebert was a good focal point inside 50.

Jackson Trengove held the back half together while key forward Jay Schulz took eight marks but blotted his copybook with unusually poor goalkicking, booting 1.5.

The match opened amid much fanfare with the Suns celebrating the first birthday of Metricon Stadium and the re-signing of senior coach Guy McKenna to a two-year contract extension.

The Gold Coast party started early with Croweater Sam Day goaling after 43 seconds when he made the most of a quick centre clearance to outmark Trengove. The Suns did all the early attacking to lead 2.4 to 0.2 after 10 minutes. Only poor goalkicking stopped them from breaking the game open.

Key defender Trengove was Port's unlikely first goalkicker when he followed Day downfield and made the most of a costly Gold Coast turnover to goal from 40m. With Pearce and Brad Ebert in everything, the Power then seized control, kicking the next three goals to open up a handy 11-point break at the first change.

Former Sturt junior Day then singlehandedly dragged the Suns back into the contest. The No. 3 pick at the 2010 national draft twice outmarked Port's 100-game full back Alipate Carlile in the first three minutes of the second term to goal from outside 45m.

While Day was doing the damage at one end, Boak was the gamebreaker at the other.

Highlighting his brilliance, he twice broke free of Wilkinson inside 50 to goal as the teams traded majors, leaving Port clinging to a one-point lead at the long break.