In a match that may well be remembered for the number of ground invaders in the dying minutes of the game, the Dockers were accurate throughout before winning 11.3 (69) to 7.8 (50).
Naturally, both clubs used the match to give some of their young players game time against AFL-hardened opponents. And some of those fringe players gave a glimpse of what they may offer in the future.
Collingwood started impressively to lead by 14 points at quarter-time in a match that was played without time-on periods. Cameron Cloke, the younger brother or regular senior player Jason Cloke, was a target up forward, kicking 1.1 for the term.
But the Dockers turned on the power in the opening moments of the second quarter, booting four goals in six minutes to race to a 10-point lead. The Magpies steadied late in the term and trailed by two points at the main break.
The pattern continued in the third quarter with Fremantle taking most of its chances, pushing out to a 21-point lead as the Pies struggled to penetrate up forward.
Dockers youngster Ben Colreavy was proving to be a dynamo for Fremantle and it wasn’t until the 13-minute mark of the term that the Dockers scored their first point for the game.
In a disappointing moment considering the nature of the match, Fremantle big man Aaron Sandilands was stretchered off during the third quarter after being on the end of a solid hip-and-shoulder from Collingwood’s Anthony Rocca.
Facing a 14-point deficit at the final term, Collingwood still had a reasonable chance of stealing a victory and put regular ruckman Josh Fraser in to the middle.
But stand-in Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich booted a terrific long goal after two minutes to give the Dockers a 20-point lead and effectively seal the result.
Some of the young players to play well for Fremantle included Colreavy, Andrew Browne and Ben Cunningham. But the Dockers relied on players of the ilk of Pavlich, Paul Hasleby and Justin Longmuir to get them over the line.
Collingwood, on the other hand, got good service from David King and Luke Shackleton while the Magpies’ best included Paul Licuria, Rhyce Shaw and Alan Didak.
FREMANTLE: 1.0, 6.0, 9.1, 11.3 (69)
COLLINGWOOD: 3.2, 5.4, 6.5, 7.8 (50)
BEST: Fremantle: J.Longmuir, Pavlich, Hasleby, Colreavy, Polak.
Collingwood: Licuria, Shaw, Didak, Holland, O’Bree.
GOALS: Fremantle: Polak 2, Pavlich 2, Medhurst 2, Thornton, Browne, Colreavy, J.Longmuir, Headland.
Collingwood: Fraser, C.Cloke, Didak, O’Bree, Swan, Williams, Licuria.
INJURIES: Fremantle: Sandilands (shoulder/concussion)
CROWD: 12,847 at The Oval, London
