IT WAS mission impossible - except nobody told Carlton.

In one of the upsets of the season, the undermanned Blues have come from 29 points down at quarter-time and landed a severe blow on Fremantle's finals ambitions with a stunning four-point victory at Optus Stadium. 

Without superstar skipper Patrick Cripps (foot), key forward Harry McKay (groin) and with star tall Charlie Curnow (knee) going down inside 12 minutes, Carlton looked dead and buried only 30 minutes into the contest.

But these Blues are building a never-say-die attitude under interim coach David Teague, and nobody typifies that spirit more than former skipper Marc Murphy, who was the hero with a miraculous checkside goal with 31 seconds left on the clock.

The Dockers looked to have survived a major scare with just over a minute to play when Sam Switkowski snapped truly to grab back the lead.

The home side thought they had won it when Switkowski converted late. Picture: AFL Photos

But Carlton incredibly found another goal in the dying seconds, with Murphy getting into space and sneaking a shot past Fremantle defenders' outstretched fingers to send the large pro-Blues crowd into a frenzy. 

The Blues' third victory – a 11.13 (79) to 11.9 (75) triumph – was their second in three games under Teague and has lifted them off the bottom of the ladder for the first time since round eight. 

Murphy was outstanding, racking up 35 touches, while tagger Ed Curnow won an incredible 16 clearances and 32 disposals to lift the midfield brigade after the Dockers' engine room ran all over the visitors early.

OUT OF THE BLUE Full match coverage and stats

After some dark days, it was a win to savour, but Fremantle was left lamenting a golden opportunity to shore up a top-eight spot.

The Dockers could have finished the round a game clear inside the top eight but they are now only clinging to eighth spot by percentage ahead of Port Adelaide and Essendon and are heading into a bumper 50th Western Derby. 

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Fremantle lost control of the game after dominating the opening term.

Superstar skipper Nat Fyfe (29 disposals) was in imperious touch, with all nine of his possessions contested, and with white-hot Michael Walters (17, two goals) riding shotgun it looked how far Fremantle at the first change. 

But in a remarkable twist of events, the Blues defied all expectations and flipped the script. 

Whatever Teague said at the break clearly worked, with Carlton pumping the ball inside 50 on 17 occasions before Freo entered the attacking arc. 

Murphy and tagger Ed Curnow got to work at the coalface, while defenders Jacob Weitering and Caleb Marchbank set up a wall to lock the ball in. 

The Blues drilled four goals before Brennan Cox steadied the ship for the Dockers, who went into half-time only 10 points up.

It was an arm-wrestle in the third term, with neither side giving an inch.

The Blues hit the front for the first time after a dubious free kick paid to Matthew Kennedy, who then snapped brilliantly from the pocket, at the 11-minute mark. 

But a brace of majors from recalled Cam McCarthy (four goals) reestablished some breathing space for the home side, and they went to the final break with a 12-point buffer. 

WATCH The last two minutes

Playing his first game since round seven after Jesse Hogan (foot) went down, McCarthy had a key part to play late, setting up Michael Walters for a goal and playing a hand in Switkowski's major. 

But Murphy kicked the sealer and the Blues will cross their fingers scans confirm their hopes that Curnow, who was coming off a seven-goal bag against the Dogs, only has a low-grade medial strain.

MEDICAL ROOM
Fremantle: Young ruckman Sean Darcy came off in the last term with a sore right arm after a collision. Superstar Nat Fyfe copped a blow to the head from Matthew Kreuzer in the third term which knocked him around but he stayed on the park.
Carlton: Charlie Curnow immediately clutched his right knee after a first-quarter collision with Ethan Hughes and hobbled from the field and down to the rooms. Blues football manager Brad Lloyd told Fox Footy at quarter-time that Curnow had a low-grade medial issue, a relatively good result, while Mitch McGovern was also down in the rooms after a collision with Griffin Logue.

NEXT UP
The Dockers remain at home next Saturday night and host West Coast in a showpiece 50th Western Derby – arguably the most important crosstown clash since late 2015 – while the Blues will host Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday in a bottom-three contest.

FREMANTLE     5.2     6.3     8.8     11.9     (75)
CARLTON           0.3     4.5     6.8     11.13     (79)

GOALS
Fremantle: McCarthy 4, Walters 2, Matera, Fyfe, Cox, Tucker, Switkowski
Carlton: Kennedy 2, Gibbons, Petrevski-Seton, Dow, McGovern, Casboult, Silvagni, Simpson, Thomas, Murphy

BEST
Fremantle: Fyfe, Ryan, Blakely, McCarthy, Langdon, Hughes
Carlton: Murphy, Curnow, Walsh, Plowman, Kreuzer, Thomas

INJURIES
Fremantle: Nil
Carlton: C.Curnow (knee)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Margetts, O'Gorman, Brown

Official crowd: 37,293 at Optus Stadium