THE SYDNEY Swans have fallen agonisingly short of a preliminary final berth after falling to the Western Bulldogs by five points at the MCG on Saturday night.

The Swans led by 30 points midway through the first half, but faded badly as the Dogs stormed home to win 11.11 (77)  to 10.12 (72).

The match boiled down to a nail-biting final term after scores were level at the final change.

And with the match potentially being captain Brad Johnson’s last in the AFL, Rodney Eade’s men lifted to kick 3.2 to 2.3 to stave off a straight-sets exit from the finals.

Two of those goals came through Daniel Giansiracusa and the other through Robert Murphy, whose move from defence to attack late in the second term when his side trailed badly proved a masterstroke.

The Swans fell 13 points behind at one stage in the final term, but in what turned out to be coach Paul Roos’ last in charge of the club and Brett Kirk’s final game, they kept fighting.

Lewis Jetta booted a goal at the 21st minute mark to narrow the margin to seven points, and two rushed behinds in the final frantic minutes further cut the deficit.

However the Bulldogs were able to control the footy in the final minute of play and win their way through to a preliminary final against St Kilda.

Josh Kennedy was outstanding in the middle as he bustled his way to 32 possessions, 15 of them contested, while Tadhg Kennelly (28) and Adam Goodes (25) were also prolific.

Earlier, a deciding final term had seemed an unlikely scenario given the Swans led by 30 points mid-way through the second term.

But two quick goals just before half time restored Bulldog hopes.

They then booted the only three goals of the third term to hit the front, while in hindsight the Swans kicked themselves out of the game with some dreadful misses in front of the sticks.

Daniel Bradshaw was strong all night on Brian Lake, kicking 3.4, but will rue his set-shot misses, especially one kick from 15m that hit the post.

Western Bulldogs 3.4 5.6 8.9 11.11 (77)
Sydney Swans 3.4 8.4 8.9 10.12 (72)

GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Hall 4, Giansiracusa 3, Addison, Hooper, Grant, Murphy
Sydney Swans: Bradshaw 3, Shaw 2, Goodes 2, J. Bolton, McGlynn, Jetta

BEST
Western Bulldogs: Hall, Harbrow, Griffen, Boyd, Murphy, Picken, Giansiracusa
Sydney Swans: Goodes, Kennelly, Kennedy, McVeigh, Jack, Malceski, Mattner, Kirk

INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Sydney Swans: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Rosebury, Stevic, Ryan

Official crowd: 39,596 at the MCG