YARTAPUULTI coach Lauren Arnell has described Sunday evening’s high-pressure come from behind win over Greater Western Sydney as a ‘nice little kick in the backside’ ahead of the side’s maiden finals campaign.

Playing in front of a raucous 4148 strong crowd at Alberton Oval, Arnell’s side trailed all game to a plucky Giants outfit before two late goals including some last-minute Gemma Houghton heroics saw the Power pinch victory by one point.

The 7.1 (43) to 6.6 (42) result was perhaps harsh on the 16^th ranked Giants who were chasing their first win since week 1, and Arnell said there was plenty to review for her side.

“I thought absolute credit to the Giants, the level they got to in their game suggests very strongly that the ladder tells a bit of a lie about the team that they are.

“I think they executed very, very well today, and their pressure was finals-like so yeah, I think full credit and respect for the Giants. I thought they were really good. Clearly, they pushed us the whole way.

“Certainly, being challenged in that way, you know, I think it's a nice little kick in the backside to be fair at this point going into finals, and it will (tell us) the level that we need to rise to.”

Houghton had been well held for much of the match before holding onto a strong mark in the final minute and converting the resulting set shot from a difficult angle to lift the huge home crowd.

It saw Yartapuulti claim a sixth win in-a-row and a home final against Richmond next week.

While the prospect of entering the club’s maiden AFLW finals campaign with an away Elimination Final did not bother the senior coach, Arnell said the outcome is pleasing for the club and its supporters.

“Obviously, the heart and soul of our footy club is Alberton and to know that we're coming home to play our first final at home next week, I think if anything, it's for our fans, and we've got some die hard people that come to every training session, and so just watching their reaction in the last few minutes has been really special,” she said.

“I think you could absolutely see the way our group fed off our supporters here today.

“I think it was over 4100 people (in the crowd) and you know, that's top end of the tree in terms of home crowds of the whole competition. For this to be our third season in the competition, to be playing our home final, our first final at Alberton, and for our people to show up continually the way that they do, it's really, really special.

“I'm so pleased that we're able to put that home final on in front of them next week.”

Having never won more than two and a half games in its first two seasons in the AFLW competition, Yartapuulti now takes significant momentum and belief from its sixth placed finish at the end of the minor round.

And while Richmond beat the Power in Melbourne in week five, some six weeks ago, Arnell feels her side is ready to challenge the Tigers.

“That's six wins in a row, seven wins for the year. I think that tells us that we are ready to play finals,” she explained.

“Richmond got the job done on us just before we were able to start this wave of momentum and so we take some good learning out of that. I think it was round four or round five, just after we played North Melbourne.

“So yeah, really looking forward to what looks like a fixture against Richmond next week.”

And Arnell’s line-up should be boosted by the return of key players Matilda Scholz (calf) and Abbey Dowrick (soreness) who were late withdrawals before Sunday’s game.

“The medical team strongly recommended that both didn’t play,” Arnell said of the pair.

“You could see, certainly in the early periods of the game in that first half in particular, we missed both of them. You don't even just have to look at the stat sheet in terms of the averages of the year to tell you how important those two are to us, but we certainly expect them to be healthy for next week.”