Suns edge out Crows in one-point thriller in AFL Round 4

Gold Coast and Adelaide played out an instant classic at People First Stadium on Saturday, with the Suns clinching a one-point win to remain undefeated in the 2025 AFL Premiership season.

Both sides came into Round 4 with perfect records and plenty of hype, and the matchup delivered in spades as the Damien Hardwick’s men held on to win it 13.13 (91) to 14.6 (90).

The Suns came in as $1.73 favourites with online bookmakers and started hot, jumping out to an early lead through Ben King and Ethan Read before Darcy Fogarty got the Crows off the mark with a tidy finish midway through the opening term.

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Ben Long added another for the Suns, and it looked as though the hosts would take a handy lead into the first break until Riley Thilthorpe — after two earlier misses — brought the margin back to seven points with a goal right on quarter-time.

It was all Adelaide early in the second term, with Thilthorpe, James Peatling and Taylor Walker converting in quick succession to put the visitors ahead before Jed Walter got one back for the home side.

Fogarty struck again for the Crows, but the Suns turned the tide with some high-class forward pressure and eventually capitalised through Bailey Humphrey late in the quarter before a Connor Budarick poster made it a one-point ball game at half-time.

The Suns wasted no time turning up the heat after the restart, with Will Graham giving them the lead just seconds into the third quarter before Long finished off a slick counterattack a few minutes later.

Touk Miller continued his strong goalscoring form to give the Suns an 18-point lead, but the Crows responded with three unanswered majors in quick time to sneak ahead again.

King and Walter replied for Gold Coast, then Thilthorpe for the Crows, and the visitors survived some late scares to keep the margin at six points in favour of the hosts heading into the final stanza.

Gold Coast got the jump early in the last quarter through Walter and Lachie Weller, but the pendulum swung yet again as Walker and Thilthorpe booted the Crows back to within a kick.

Walker then squandered a gilt-edged chance that led to a rebounding goal for Graham at the other end, but ‘Tex’ — fresh off bringing up his 650th AFL goal — redeemed himself soon after, and Thilthorpe then kicked his fifth to bring the margin back to one point with less than five minutes remaining.

A chaotic closing stretch ensued, with Adelaide dominating territory but missing out on several chances — including a controversial non-decision involving Izak Rankine — as Gold Coast held on for a one-point win.

It doesn’t get much easier for the Crows in Round 5, as they face a tricky clash with Geelong at Adelaide Oval on Friday night, while the Suns will take on North Melbourne the day after.

Adelaide are early favourites to beat the Cats at $1.70 with BetOnline, with the Suns heavily supported at $1.36 to deal with the Roos.

Crows v Suns betting results – Round 4, 2025

As Meatloaf sang, two out of three ain’t bad. We hit the match result ($1.73) and Thilthorpe to kick three or more goals ($4.25), but Rowell was well held after half-time and fell well short of 30 disposals ($2.30).

• GOLD COAST v ADELAIDE AFL R4 TIPS & PREDICTIONS

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