Harley Bennell probably didn’t know as he lined up a straight-forward 40-metre shot on goal in the closing seconds of Saturday’s Metricon Stadium clash with Geelong that he was on the verge of a special moment in Gold Coast SUNS history. Bennell just needed to kick straight to become the first GC SUNS player to kick seven goals in a game.

Minutes earlier he’d equalled Charlie Dixon’s club record of six goals in a game, set against GWS Giants in Canberra in 2013. But the majestic 21-year-old midfielder/forward can be excused for being caught up in one of the great moments of the fledging club’s short time in the AFL; a win over the AFL powerhouse of the past eight years.

SUNS fans will debate whether it’s the club’s best win of all-time. Whether it was better than the seven-point home win over Collingwood last year or the 15-point come-from-behind home win over North Melbourne last year. There is also the historic first win over Port Adelaide in 2011, the 83-point home massacre of GWS last year, the breakthrough 10-goal win over Melbourne at the MCG last year, the 43-point Etihad triumph over North Melbourne this year, or the 53-point savaging of Brisbane at Metricon this year.

But there is no debating the fact that this was one very special performance from one very talented young man. That Bennell didn’t kick his seven goals may only a postponement of the inevitable. Regardless, his six-goal effort against Geelong is a club record at Metricon, surpassing the previous best of five kicked by Tom Lynch against GWS in Round 6 this year. And it topped his previous best of four against Melbourne at the MCG in 2012.

The No.2 pick in the 2010 National Draft, playing predominantly forward on Saturday night, had 27 possessions and in addition to his career-best six goals had a career-best 11 marks and four grabs inside 50. He kicked 6.3 and could easily have had seven or eight goals.

Bennell’s silky smooth performance came as Gold Coast claimed its 22nd win overall, the first win over Geelong, and the club’s first win over a side sitting inside the top four on the AFL ladder in 19 attempts.

The SUNS had previously claimed three top eight scalps. Collingwood was 7th when they beat them in round 13 last year. Richmond was nominally 7th when they beat them in the season opener this year, having finished in that position at the end of 2013. Also this year, North was 5th when the Kangaroos succumbed to the SUNS in round 7.

Geelong went into Saturday’s clash at Metricon sitting fourth on the ladder. The Cats were only percentage points out of second spot and one win off the top. This was one serious scalp against a side that had beaten them four out of four by an average 70 points, previously.

That it came on the back of consecutive losses to Adelaide, Sydney and West Coast, and a long trip to Perth, only added to the gloss of the 17-16 (118) to 11-12 (78) victory.

Saturday’s win consolidated the SUNS’ position inside the top eight with a club record 8-5 win/loss mark which already has matched their record eight-win total of last year.

Sitting 8th on the ladder, they are level on wins with Collingwood (6th) and North (7th), one win behind Fremantle (4th) and Geelong (5th), one win clear of Essendon (8th) and two wins up on Adelaide (10th). That’s 10 weeks in a row they’ve been inside the top eight. This time last year they were 13th after sitting at the bottom of the ladder at the corresponding stage in 2011 and 2012.

The SUNS clinched the win over the Cats with arguably the most sustained period of football excellence in the club’s 79-game history, piling on eight unanswered goals either side of three-quarter time after falling 17 points behind 10 minutes into the third quarter. It was the equal-best goal steak in club history, matching eight unanswered goals in the third and fourth quarters against Brisbane at Metricon in round 3 this year, and eight unanswered goals in the second and third quarters against the Western Bulldogs at Metricon in round 10. But given the quality of the opposition, it’s reasonable to put the eight-goal blitz against Geelong, which included three goals from Bennell and singles to Jaeger O’Meara, Tom Lynch, Charlie Dixon, Jarrod Harbrow and Luke Russell, at the top of this list.

The SUNS’ 40-point win means they have now beaten 11 different opposition clubs. In order, their list of scalps is Port Adelaide, Brisbane, Richmond, GWS Giants, Carlton, St Kilda, Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne, Collingwood and now Geelong. That leaves Adelaide, Essendon, Fremantle, Hawthorn, Sydney and West Coast as opposition mountains still to climb for the AFL’s 17th club. With Hawthorn, Essendon and West Coast among their nine remaining home-and-away opponents this year they have a chance to add further into their list of all-time scalps.

The SUNS, trailing 6.8 to 9.7 at the 10-minute mark of the third term, outscored Geelong 11.8 to 2.5 from that point on to add further to the club record books.

Their 12-10 (82) second half was their highest-scoring second half ever, and their second-highest score in a half of football all-time behind only their 13-7 (85) in the first half against St Kilda at Etihad in round 9 this year. Their 47-point final term was their fifth-highest quarter all-time and their second highest final quarter score behind only their 52-point final term against GWS in Canberra last year.

In other noteworthy statistical facts to emerge from Saturday’s win:

• Jaeger O’Meara played his 35th game in a row to better Harley Bennell’s previous club record of 34 consecutive games, set when he didn’t miss a game from round 16, 2011, until round 3, 2013. O’Meara also continues to post what will be a formidable benchmark for most consecutive games from debut. Previous best was 24 by Josh Caddy, who played the last two games of 2011 and all 22 games in 2012 before being traded to Geelong
• The attendance on Saturday night of 18,236 ranked 8th on the all-time list at Metricon. SUNS home games against the Cats now average 18,515. This puts them fourth on the list of most popular visiting clubs behind Collingwood, which has drawn an average Metricon crowd of 21,512, Richmond (19,415) and Hawthorn (18,522). Geelong, which has played at Metricon three times, became the first visiting club to top 50,000 spectators in total
• It was the fourth time in club history and the first time this year the SUNS have won from behind at half time. They trailed Port by 23 points at half-time before beating them in 2011, and St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs by 19 points and five points at half-time, respectively, last year before beating them. They were five points down at the long break against the Cats on Saturday
• Harley Bennell’s three goals in the final quarter was a personal best and saw him join Gary Ablett (three times), Steven May, Danny Stanley, Andrew Boston and Sam Day as Suns players to kick three goals in a quarter
• Harley Bennell, with four marks inside 50, became the third SUNS player to reach 50 marks inside 50 in total. Tom Lynch (87) leads the way from the retired Campbell Brown (51)
• Gary Ablett became the third player all-time to kick 50 goals at Metricon/Carrara. He joins Brad Hardie (98) and Roger Merrett (84) in this category. Bennell, now with 36 goals at the venue, jumped to sixth spot on the all-time list and within striking distance of Cameron O’Brien (42) and Warwick Capper (40)
• Dion Prestia matched Bennell’s 11 marks – a season high for the SUNS this year. It was for Prestia, like Bennell, also a career-best. Kade Kolodjashnij had a career-best nine marks
• Alex Sexton’s 15 possessions was a career-best, surpassing his previous best of 14 against Collingwood at the MCG in 2012
• Luke Russell’s two goals was an equal career-high and the sixth time in his career he has kicked a double. He was the starting substitute for the 12th time, meaning he has worn the green vest twice as often as Jack Hutchins and Josh Toy, who are ranked equal second
• Gary Ablett’s three goal assists against Geelong equalled the club best this year, posted earlier by Tom Lynch and Dion Prestia
• Charlie Dixon, with three goals, now has a career total of 44 goals in 44 games. He becomes the sixth SUNS player to average a goal per game (on current figures). Harley Bennell’s six-goal bag sees him head this list now at 1.28 goals per game from Gary Ablett (1.27), Tom Lynch (1.22), Brandon Matera (1.08) and Aaron Hall (1.00)