Sydney Swans reserves coach Henry Playfair has praised the efforts of his senior players in leading the team to victory over Eastlake at Lakeside Oval on Sunday morning.

Eastlake stormed back into the game with five successive goals deep into the third quarter, cutting a near ten-goal Swans lead to just 22-points at the final change.

Playfair asked his players to respond in the final term, and he was pleased with the way they were able do enough to hold on for the win.

“We were down on numbers, but in the end it was a pretty hard fought 20-point win,” Playfair told sydneyswans.com.au.

“We spoke about the players really digging in with a last quarter effort in an attempt to hang on.

“We lost a couple of players during the game, so we were down on numbers, but to the boys’ credit they hung in there and kept them to one goal in the last quarter.”

With a host of regular players missing, Playfair highlighted the performances of Paul Bevan and Jarred Moore in setting the example for the young Swans team to follow.

“Given that we had a limited amount of listed players, we really needed those that did play to step-up and lead the way for some of the younger kids - and those two boys certainly did that,” he said.

As the two key targets in the Swans forward line, Mark Seaby and Nathan Gordon combined for five goals and presented a serious threat to the Eastlake defence throughout the morning.

“(Seaby) had 25 possessions on the day, and took some really strong marks around the ground as well. He spent a bit more time forward this week and he really gave us a target to kick to,” Playfair said.

“(Gordon) took ten marks on the day, and had six shots on goal. We asked for a lot of pressure on the opposition and he gave us that. He still can be a bit reckless at times with his pressure and give away a few free kicks, but … you certainly can’t question his effort, intensity and urgency on the day.”

Regular top-up players Kane Murphy and James Brain also contributed five goals between them as roving forwards, with Playfair happy with their ability to fill the void between the experienced senior players and the more youthful top-ups.

One of those top-ups for the team was 17-year old QBE Sydney Swans Academy player, Brandon Jack, who capped his debut with a classy goal with both parents and brother Kieren watching on.

“He showed some real glimpses of quality stuff around the footy for a guy who hasn’t played AFL since he was really young,” Playfair said of Jack’s game.

“He shows a lot of speed, he’s still really slight, but for his first game he was really exciting.”

The Swans reserves host cross-town rivals GWS this Saturday, with Playfair fully aware of the potential the Giants team possess.

“We got well and truly beaten against Gold Coast who are really quality opposition, and we’ll be up against the same in GWS,” he said.

“We know they’ve improved during the year, but our players certainly look forward to the challenge.”