ADAM Goodes kicked a career-best eight goals as the Sydney Swans revived their top-four hopes with a remarkable comeback win over Fremantle at the SCG.

Freo opened up a match-high 14-point lead with just nine minutes to play in the final quarter, but Goodes swooped twice in the dying moments before Barry Hall kicked the match-winner three minutes from time.

Luke McPharlin hit the post for Fremantle with the last shot of the game, as the Swans hung on to win by four points, 17.10 (112) to 15.18 (108).

Goodes was the game-breaker, kicking half the Swans' score to half time, hauling them from the brink in the final term and looking threatening whenever he went near the ball. Jude Bolton was exceptional through the midfield with 30 touches and two goals.

Matthew Pavlich was outstanding at centre half-forward for Freo, while Aaron Sandilands was too good for both Darren Jolly and Peter Everitt, and Ryan Crowley kept Ryan O’Keefe quiet.

The game had threatened to open up in the first half and it finally did so in the third quarter. 

Unfortunately for Fremantle, six of the quarter’s eight goals went to the Swans, erasing the visitors’ eight-point half-time lead.

Hall and Pavlich were prominent at centre half-forward for their respective sides, but the Swans were lethal once they entered their forward 50.

Jude Bolton snagged two goals to complement his strong first half and when second-gamer Patrick Veszpremi’s long-distance effort cleared the pack for his second, the Swans were flying.

A minute later, Goodes’ sixth goal put the home side up by 13 points – its biggest lead of the game.

Having stared down each of the Swans’ challenges in the first half, Freo faced a huge task to find one last effort in the final term.

Michael Johnson’s early goal was cancelled out by O’Keefe’s running effort, but Crowley immediately replied with a spectacular checkside snap.

When Pavlich scrambled his first goal through, scores were level and Freo was on the verge of scuppering the Swans’ top-four hopes.

Paul Duffield’s second goal and a stunning effort on the run from Brett Peake in the pocket gave Fremantle a 13-point lead that mirrored the Swans’ advantage at the start of the quarter.

Pavlich had a chance to increase the margin, but he missed badly from 30m out, and the Swans pounced.

Goodes roved the pack cleverly for his seventh and his eighth – which came a minute later – was a pearler, running Craig Bolton under the ball and then baulking two Freo players to drill it through from close range.

With two minutes to go, the SCG crowd exploded when Hall slotted his fourth to put the Swans back in front.

It was not to be Fremantle’s night. A soccer-style attempt from Luke McPharlin hit the post, and Swans defender Paul Bevan took a sensational mark running back with the flight to defuse another forward thrust in the game’s dying moments.

Looking for its fourth straight win after an otherwise disappointing season, Fremantle refused to give in early on whenever the fourth-placed Swans tried to boss the game.

The visitors led by seven points after a scrappy first term, then twice retook the lead as the Sydney Swans tried to break the game open in the second quarter.

Kepler Bradley became an unlikely goalsneak to snare two majors, while Chris Tarrant gleefully accepted a handpass in the goalsquare after a strong Pavlich mark.

At the other end, Goodes was already proving a handful, but he managed just one goal from three set shots.

The home side looked ominous after three goals in eight minutes to start the second term, but clever snaps from youngsters Palmer and Chris Mayne halted their momentum.

Mark Harvey switched Steven Dodd to the dangerous Goodes, but he still managed to score his third goal after a vintage passage involving Brett Kirk and Jared Crouch.

The dual Brownlow medallist’s fourth followed two minutes later, following an errant kick from Michael Johnson.

But again, it was Palmer who turned the game, winning the ball at half-forward with a desperate gather at ground level, which culminated in Campbell’s first goal for the night.

Fremantle had weathered the Swans’ charge to enjoy an eight-point lead at half time, but the home side proved irresistible in a thrilling second half.

Sydney Swans      2.4          7.6          13.8       17.10 (112)
Fremantle             3.5          8.8          10.13     15.18 (108)

GOALS
Sydney Swans: Goodes 8, Hall 4, J. Bolton 2, Veszpremi 2, O’Keefe
Fremantle: Bradley 3, Campbell 2, Crowley 2, Duffield 2, Tarrant, Palmer, Mayne, Michael Johnson, Pavlich, Peake

BEST
Sydney Swans: Goodes, J. Bolton, Hall, Kennelly, Mattner
Fremantle: Pavlich, Palmer, Sandilands, Crowley, Hayden, Tarrant

INJURIES
Sydney Swans: Leo Barry (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Luke Ablett
Fremantle: Antoni Grover replaced in selected side by Marcus Drum

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.