A COURAGEOUS Fremantle never gave in against an improved Essendon at Subiaco Oval on Sunday, but in the end fell short by four points.
Fremantle was down to 19 fit men after Roger Hayden, Ryley Dunn and Ryan Crowley went off injured during the course of the game, and despite looking down and out, the home side launched one final last-term fightback, but Essendon held on to win 14.11 (95) to 13.13 (91) to deny the home side its third win of the year.
Fremantle was looking good, leading by 20 points on two separate occasions in the second quarter, but Essendon was fighting to stay alive in the finals race and took control of the game either side of half time.
The Bombers led by 24 points early in the last quarter, but Fremantle showed tremendous determination to kick three of the last four goals of the game.
Ruckman Aaron Sandilands played another superb game to finish with a team-high 25 possessions and 45 hit outs. Despite his dominance, Essendon had seven more clearances than Fremantle.
Matthew Pavlich was also terrific with six goals and certainly benefited from Essendon veteran Dustin Fletcher missing the second half with a broken hand. The Fremantle skipper kicked three goals in the second term and three more in the last quarter.
Dean Solomon worked hard all day against his former side to collect 21 possessions, while youngster Chris Mayne had 22 and kicked two goals. Peter Bell had 20 touches, while Rhys Palmer added 19.
Antoni Grover had Scott Lucas' number all day keeping him to two goals, while Steven Dodd had a good battle with Matthew Lloyd, who only kicked one goal.
Luke McPharlin's injured ribs didn't allow him to take his place in the side, and South Fremantle's Josh Head earned his long-awaited debut after being drafted for the second time by Fremantle in 2007.
Hayden and Dunn went down with hamstring injuries in the first half, and Fremantle was down to just 19 men early in the third quarter when Crowley went off after getting hurt in a marking contest. He has gone to hospital with an expected punctured lung.
Essendon got the first goal of the game through Mark McVeigh before Mayne kicked truly to end Fremantle run of four behinds, but the Bombers still took the most of their chances to lead by three points at quarter-time.
Fremantle came out firing to start the second, and Head's long kicking both from defence and to go inside 50 were instrumental in the home team building a 20-point lead after four goals in the first 14 minutes.
Pavlich kicked three of those and Mayne added his second before Chris Tarrant answered a goal to Essendon's David Hille to bring Fremantle's lead back to 20. The Bombers then booted the last three goals to trail by just one point at the long break.
Fremantle's 29-minute goal drought was finally broken by Solomon midway through the third quarter to bring the margin back to two points after Essendon kicked four goals in that period.
That goal didn’t spark a Fremantle revival, though, as Essendon finished the quarter with the last three majors to hold an 18-point advantage with a term to play.
Pavlich kicked his fourth goal inside the opening minute of the first term, but two goals to Essendon put the margin out to 24 points. Josh Carr then kicked a goal to keep Fremantle alive before Pavlich added two more in three minutes to bring the margin back to six points.
Lucas' second goal again gave Essendon some breathing space, but Tarrant's second goal saw the margin to four points, where it stayed until the final siren.
Essendon 3.2 7.5 11.9 14.11 (95)
Fremantle 2.5 7.6 8.9 13.13 (91)
GOALS
Essendon: Lucas 2, Ramanauskas 2, Stanton 2, Hille 2, McVeigh, Lloyd, McPhee, Lonergan, Reimers, Lovett
Fremantle: Pavlich 6, Mayne 2, Tarrant 2, Hinkley, Solomon, Carr
BEST
Essendon: McVeigh, Watson, Lovett, McPhee, Lovett-Murray, Peverill, Jetta
Fremantle: Sandilands, Pavlich, Mayne, Solomon, Bell, Palmer
INJURIES
Essendon: Dustin Fletcher (broken hand), Jay Neagle replaced in selected side by Damien Peverill
Fremantle: Roger Hayden (hamstring), Ryley Dunn (hamstring), Ryan Crowley (lung), Luke McPharlin replaced in selected side by Josh Head
Reports: Nil
Umpires: McBurney, Stewart, Nicholls
Official crowd: 34,239 at Subiaco Oval
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
