Melbourne, down by 44 points late in the second term, staged a remarkable turnaround and kicked seven goals to two in the second half to draw within one point of the home side.
Only two goals were kicked in a high-pressure final term, with both sides missing gettable opportunities before Hayden Ballantyne sealed the important win, 11.16 (82) to 10.11 (71), with a superb roving goal.
Fremantle maintains a one-game break on next week’s opponents the Western Bulldogs, while Melbourne slips three games adrift of the top eight.
Mark Harvey’s side rediscovered the high-pressure, highly-skilled game that had driven them into the top four and kicked nine of the first 11 goals, appearing destined for a comfortable win.
They dominated possession in the opening term and enjoyed clean entries inside 50, kicking six goals to Melbourne’s sole major. When the Demons did go into attack it was rushed and they crumbled under relentless forward pressure.
Ballantyne kicked three of his four goals in the second term and was the difference in a low-scoring game, while young midfielder Anthony Morabito (17 possessions and six clearances), returning defender Luke McPharlin and Paul Duffield were important.
David Mundy had 14 first-half possessions and two goals, but he was shut down in the second half by Jordie McKenzie, who restricted the key midfielder to a further five disposals.
Fremantle coach Mark Harvey said his side let Melbourne back into the game too quickly and too easily.
“Even though we were up by a significant margin, we should have been up by more,” Harvey said after the match. “It just gives an opposition a glimmer of hope.
“It’s disturbing that you can let an opposition have that much of an effect in a quarter, and that’s something we need to address because we won’t get away with that with sides that are dominating the competition at the moment.”
Brad Green (20 possessions and a goal) was inspiring in the Demons’ second-half fight-back, while James Frawley kept Fremantle skipper Matthew Pavlich goalless.
Tom Scully (22 possessions) was impressive in an even battle with Stephen Hill while Aaron Davey, Jamie Bennell and Liam Jurrah all kicked two goals.
While Harvey rued a lacklustre third term from his charges, Melbourne coach Dean Bailey bemoaned a slow start that left the Demons 31 points down at quarter time.
“You just can't excuse our effort in the first quarter,” Bailey said. “That is the underlying reason that we had to fight back from being behind.
“We were really disappointing in the first quarter and they took their chances by kicking some good goals.
“We got beaten today and only won one quarter. I've often said that we need to win more quarters and today we only won one. People look at the [11] points, but we only won one quarter and you can't win too many games doing that.”
Melbourne faces the Sydney Swans next week at the MCG while Fremantle travels to Etihad Stadium for its top-four showdown with the Dogs.
Harvey said he expected first-choice defenders Chris Tarrant and Antoni Grover to be available.
Fremantle 6.3 9.8 10.10 11.16 (82)
Melbourne 1.2 3.5 9.8 10.11 (71)
GOALS
Fremantle: Ballantyne 4, Mundy 2, Hasleby, Duffield, Fyfe, Palmer, Crowley
Melbourne: Bennell 2, Jurrah 2, Davey 2, Johnson, Sylvia, Jones, Green
BEST
Fremantle: Ballantyne, Duffield, McPharlin, McPhee, Morabito, Broughton, Hill
Melbourne: Frawley, Davey, Green, McKenzie, Scully, Jones, Sylvia
INJURIES
Fremantle: Bradley (knee), Roberton (ankle)
Melbourne: Moloney (corked thigh)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Margetts, Rosebury, Dalgleish
Official crowd: 32,816 at Subiaco Oval
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
