FREMANTLE has suffered another heartbreaking loss, with the Western Bulldogs coming from behind to pinch a thriller at Subiaco Oval by three points.
After the lead changed hands 11 times in the first half, Fremantle held it for all of the second half until the Dogs surged back from three goals down in the final term to win 17.12 (114) to 17.9 (111) and keep Fremantle anchored in the bottom three.
Jason Akermanis lifted when moved into the middle and was fantastic with nine possessions and a goal in the final quarter, with Adam Cooney moving forward for two crucial goals.
Fremantle dominated for three quarters and led by as much as 19 points early in the last, before the Bulldogs roared home with the last three goals of the game.
Despite being tagged heavily by Ryan Crowley, Cooney finished with 24possessions and two goals, Ryan Griffen shook off the tag of Shaun McManus to have 23, with Daniel Cross (26), Nathan Eagleton (22) and Daniel Giansiracusa (21, two goals) all tremendous.
Peter Bell was again terrific for Fremantle with 29 possessions; Rhys Palmer had 27 and Michael Johnson 24 in defence. Heath Black made an encouraging return with 25 and Kepler Bradley starred in his first game for Fremantle with 21, while key forwards Matthew Pavlich and Chris Tarrant had their best game as a tandem.
Both finished with four goals and for Tarrant, his 20 possessions and six marks signals a return to form with his best game in Fremantle colours.
Palmer started in the middle and was tagged by Matthew Boyd, but capitalised on a 50m penalty to kick the first goal of the game. Murphy and Hudson quickly answered for the Bulldogs, before Pavlich and Tarrant put Fremantle back on top.
The seesawing opening term continued when the Dogs got the next two goals through Murphy and Hahn, before Ibbotson and Bradley kicked truly for Fremantle. Solomon and Akermanis then traded goals as both sides finished with six apiece in an exciting opening.
Goals to Akermanis and Minson to open the second quarter saw the Bulldogs out to the biggest lead of the half, 13 points, but Fremantle showed fight to hit the lead again when Tarrant booted his second.
Eagleton finished off his terrific first half for the Bulldogs with a good running goal to regain the lead for the visitors, but a goal after the siren for Pavlich saw Fremantle go into the long break with a one-point advantage.
Fremantle put its dominance onto the scoreboard in the third term with five goals to two, but it could have led by more than 18 points had an undisciplined act from Steven Dodd not cost a goal and if Tarrant had kicked his fourth when running into an open goal.
Despite that, Tarrant and Pavlich's third goals, two to Peake and a goal to Crowley made sure Fremantle's second win of the season was on the horizon with the Bulldogs struggling to hold on.
The Bulldogs kicked three early goals in the last quarter, but Fremantle was able to respond each time to maintain a three-goal advantage, until two to Cooney and Welsh's second came unanswered to see the Dogs home.
Fremantle now plays Carlton next Saturday at Telstra Dome, with the Western Bulldogs playing North Melbourne at the same venue on Sunday.
Fremantle 6.2 9.5 14.8 17.9 (111)
Western Bulldogs 6.3 9.4 11.8 17.12 (114)
GOALS
Fremantle: Pavlich, Tarrant 4, Peake 2, Bradley, Ibbotson, Mundy, Palmer, Solomon, Crowley, Farmer
Western Bulldogs: Murphy, Akermanis 3, Cooney, Welsh, Giansiracusa 2, Eagleton, Hahn, Hudson, Minson, Johnson
BEST
Fremantle: Bell, Black, Bradley, Tarrant, Pavlich, Palmer, Peake
Western Bulldogs: Akermanis, Griffen, Cooney, Eagleton, Murphy, Giansiracusa, Cross
INJURIES
Fremantle: Andrew Foster replaced in selected side by Brett Peake
Western Bulldogs: Tim Callan replaced in selected side by Tom Williams
Reports: Nil
Umpires: James, Jeffery, Keating
Official crowd: 35,624 at Subiaco Oval
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
