Freo now the team to chase
Fremantle have opened a two game gap at the top of the AFL ladder with a convincing win over Essendon at Domain Stadium.
The Dockers had another late game lapse, but by the time the lapse came Fremantle were so far in front it didn’t matter. Essendon made the scoreboard look better in a lack lustre final quarter but it still read 12.8 (80) to 7.10 (52).
And it could have been far worse than that after the home team had turned for home nine goals clear, then shut down the engines and rolled to the line.
The match was highlighted by another prolific midfield effort from Lachie Neale who finished with 33 touches, a great game from skipper Matthew Pavlich who kicked four goals, and an encouraging debut from young defender Alex Pearce who filled in for Luke McPharlin and had 10 touches.
Nat Fyfe, David Mundy, Clancee Pearce and Lee Spurr were others who enjoyed big games.
Brendon Goddard had 35 touches for Essendon while Jobe Watson finished with 28 and a goal but the Bombers got smacked for the best part of three quarters.
Essendon made a spirited start to the game, surging the ball inside of their attacking fifty and setting the Dockers back on their heels. Eight and a half minutes in Jackson Merrett got away with nudging Spurr under the ball and snapped the first goal of the game.
That was the signal for the Dockers to lift their work rate, although their skill level didn’t lift straight away with it, with several players butchering possession in a high pressure opening.
But the Dockers did manage to establish field position and as the pressure mounted on the Essendon defence, the scoring opportunities came.
Hayden Ballantyne kicked Fremantle’s first after 10 minutes, Stephen Hill unleashed a 52 metre bomb after 18 minutes for the second. A Pavlich banana after a fortunate free kick for deliberate out of bounds 22 minutes in produced a third and then Zac Clarke kicked a fourth, also from a free kick.
Zac Merrett got a breakaway goal late in the term to limit the damage on the scoreboard but the Dockers took a 14-point lead to the quarter time break.
And by half time the lead had blown out beyond six goals as Fremantle piled the pressure up on Essendon’s defence and the Bombers crumbled. Neale slid into space and took a brave mark for a goal.
Pavlich kicked his second after Michael Hurley went to ground in a goalsquare marking contest.
Chris Mayne put a brutal tackle on Cale Hooker who was pinged for holding the ball and then Pavlich kicked his third – the result of a clinical centre clearance engineered by Aaron Sandilands and Fyfe and a strong mark on the lead.
Ballantyne had kicked Fremantle’s fifth of the quarter and ninth of the game before Joe Daniher kicked straight from 40 metres to drag the Bombers back within 40 points at the main break.
But the lead was 54 points at the final change as the Bombers were held goalless in the third quarter.
Fremantle were guilty of frittering away some opportunities at the other end – and were still turning the ball over a fair bit in the midfield but Essendon, powerless to handle the Dockers pressure, were by extension powerless to do anything with the ball even when they found it in their hands.
Pavlich kicked his fourth after muscling Hooker under the ball in a one on one marking contest, then Clancee Pearce and Michael Walters jammed through more goals in goalsquare scrambles as the Bombers were in danger of being ground into the dust.
But then the Dockers stopped.
The last quarter became a frustrating 28 minute exercise for Fremantle fans who watched Essendon outscore the Dockers four goals to zero to close the gap to within five goals at the final siren.
Jobe Watson, Travis Colyer, Ben Howlett and Martin Gleeson all kicked goals as the Bombers dressed up the scoreboard before the siren went with the home team still comfortably in front.
