Courage wins in vitally important area (10)

I believe the answer is:

heartlands

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'vitally important area' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.

'courage wins' is the wordplay.
'courage' becomes 'heart' (heart is a kind of courage).
'wins' becomes 'lands' (both can mean to obtain or secure).
'heart'+'lands'='HEARTLANDS'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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