The Gold Coast SUNS reserves burst out of the blocks to beat locals rivals Southport by 30 points at Fankhauser Reserve on Saturday and move within striking distance of the top six.

The SUNS were on the front foot early, leading by 33-points at quarter-time to put the foundations down for the 18.10 (118) to 13.10 (88) win.

The victory was the SUNS' third in a row, putting Josh Fraser’s side only percentage outside the top six behind Redland.

Scores were level at the 12-minute mark of the first term, but the SUNS slammed on the last six goals of a high-scoring quarter to give themselves a commanding lead.

The Sharks battled hard to make some inroads, at one stage reducing the margin to 25 points early in the third quarter, but could never recover from their poor start.

Fraser revealed his side’s focus in the lead up was on starting the game strongly in order to gain the ascendancy in the crucial clash for both sides finals prospects.

“There was plenty at stake today and we thought Southport would come out pretty hard," he said.

“We thought if we got off to a good start we would have enough experience to hold them at bay.

“That proved to be true, but I thought our effort over four quarters given we had a few injury concerns was really strong.”

Ruckman Zac Smith was a colossus for Gold Coast with 21 disposals, 12 marks, 27 hit-outs and three goals in a best-on-ground performance.

Andrew Raines (26 disposals), Josh Glenn (24) and Andrew Boston (21) were also damaging around the ground, feeding off the delivery from Smith and Keegan Brooksby who also responded emphatically to being left out of Rodney Eade’s side on the weekend.

Highly touted key forward, Peter Wright, was once again instrumental in victory, with last year’s pick No. 8 booting four goals and taking ten marks.

Wright’s performance follows a six-goal, 12-mark effort last week, highlighting the progress he is making in the middle part of the year, and more significantly since his two-game exposure at AFL level.

GOLD COAST 8.4 11.6 15.9 18.10 (118)
SOUTHPORT 3.1 6.5 10.6 13.10 (88)
 
GOALS
Gold Coast: P Wright 4 Z Smith 3 L Herbert 2 K Brooksby 2 T Downie 2 A Boston D Budarick D Gorringe J Glenn C Filewood.
Southport: B Merrett 3 J Brennan 2 R Clements 2 R Blood L Shreeve T Jones H Fraser J Holland G Screech.
 
BEST
Gold Coast: Z Smith A Raines J Glenn A Boston J Leslie K Brooksby
Southport: R Clements B Merrett R Blood J Brennan T Jones A McKenzie.