Gold Coast has kept its Darwin fortress intact, holding off a barnstorming Western Bulldogs to win by 10 points in a TIO Stadium thriller on Saturday night.

The Suns had a 28-point lead midway through the final quarter and the game appeared over, but the Bulldogs had other ideas.

With two goals to Sam Davidson, one to Lachlan McNeil and another to Marcus Bontempelli, the Dogs drew within three points with three minutes remaining.

Gold Coast held on in the desperate final moments though, winning critical contests before a Ben King goal on the siren completed the 15.16 (106) to 14.12 (96) win.

In typically hot and humid conditions, Gold Coast was fractionally better in most areas and did just enough to move to a 6-2 win-loss record.

The Bulldogs will lose no fans with that performance, despite having their three-game winning streak snapped.

Gold Coast threatened to jump out to big leads on numerous occasions, but every time they got a two- or three-goal break, Luke Beveridge’s men would fight back.

Ed Richards (31 disposals, one goal and three assists) and Tom Liberatore (35, 10 clearances and 10 tackles) were arguably the two best players on the ground.

James O'Donnell was magnificent in defence, while Bailey Williams was also effective and sweeping up loose balls.

Gold Coast got out to the quick start, kicking four of the game’s first five goals, as they managed to generate turnovers in the front half of the ground and punish the Bulldogs going the other way.

Daniel Rioli thrilled the home fans when he converted on the run from 50m after some lovely hands from Noah Anderson, while Sam Flanders gave the Suns a three-goal lead after Wil Powell cleared the way for him.

The Dogs were having their way at stoppages though, particularly Bontempelli and Liberatore, and kicked three consecutive goals either side of the first change to bring the teams back together.

Matthew Kennedy continued his fine season and was the unlikely first-half target with three goals, while Coleman Medal leader Ben King gave Gold Coast some breathing space at the main break with a steady set shot.

Although the Suns had more entries forward in the opening two quarters, O’Donnell was superb in the air and Williams at ground level to help hold back the tide.

The Bulldogs will return home to Marvel Stadium next Saturday night to host Essendon in Sir Doug Nicholls Round.

GOLD COAST             4.5       6.8       12.13  15.16 (106)
WESTERN BULLDOGS         3.3       5.7       9.9       14.12 (96)

GOALS
Gold Coast: King 3, Holman 2, Graham 2, Flanders 2, Rowell, Rioli, Noble, Long, Clohesy, Ainsworth
Western Bulldogs: Kennedy 3, West 2, Vandermeer 2, Davidson 2, Sanders, Bontempelli, McNeil, Richards, Khamis

BEST
Gold Coast: Rioli, Anderson, Miller, Rowell, Noble, Jeffrey, Humphrey 
Western Bulldogs: Richards, Liberatore, O’Donnell, Bontempelli, Williams, Kennedy

INJURIES
Gold Coast: Nil
Western Bulldogs: Vandermeer (calf tightness)

SUBSTITUTES
Gold Coast: Jake Rogers (replaced Nick Holman in the fourth quarter)
Western Bulldogs: Harvey Gallagher (replaced Vandermeer at three quarter time)

Crowd: 9,816 at TIO Stadium