Australian Football

Match Report

Sydney's season remains well and truly alive after the Swans impressively accounted for Fremantle, the side that ruthlessly eliminated them from the 2013 finals, in a bruising encounter at the SCG on Saturday. The first quarter of the match was a predictably low-scoring and even affair, with each side kicking just two goals and the Dockers leading by a point at the first change.

But the Swans broke the low-scoring affair open in the second term, holding Fremantle goalless while Josh Kennedy, Jarrad McVeigh and Lewis Roberts-Thomson added majors for the home side to establish a 21-point half-time lead, one that Sydney would more or less hold for the remainder of the match.

The third quarter was an uncharacteristically high-scoring one, as the Dockers attempted to work their way back into the game. But for every goal that Fremantle kicked, the Swans found one in return. By the end of the term, each side had kicked six goals, and Sydney had in fact extended its half-time lead by a point.

Both sides reverted to type in the last quarter, which produced only five goals. The first two of those were from the Swans' Buddy Franklin and Lewis Jetta, effectively killing the contest. The Dockers kicked the last three majors of the match, but these were little more than consolation goals as Sydney held on for a meritorious 17-point victory.

The Swans move to a 2-3 record, a game out of the eight, and will have a chance to even the ledger when they take on lowly Melbourne at the MCG next Saturday night. Adding an element of interest to that match is the fact that it will be John Longmire's first match as coach against his old Swans mentor Paul Roos, now at the helm of the Demons.

Fremantle's season hasn't quite kicked off in the manner coach Ross Lyon would have liked. Last year's runner-up is fifth on the ladder with three wins from five games. The Dockers will host North Melbourne at Subiaco on ANZAC Day.

GOALS
Sydney: Franklin 4; McGlynn 2; Malceski, Kennedy, McVeigh, Roberts-Thomson, Parker, B.Jack, Jetta
Fremantle: Pavlich 4; Johnson, Ballantyne 2; Mzungu, Mundy

BEST SMH.COM.AU
Sydney: Kennedy, Rampe, Hannebery, Franklin, Shaw, Bird
Fremantle: Sandilands, Mundy, Fyfe, Pavlich, Neale, Pearce

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Sydney: Kennedy, Rampe, McGlynn, Hannebery, Parker, Richards Shaw
Fremantle: Fyfe, Mundy, Pavlich, Johnson, Sandilands, Neale

INJURIES
Sydney: Tom Derickx (cut head)
Fremantle: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Sydney: Brandon Jack replaced by Jake Lloyd in the fourth quarter.
Fremantle: Matt Taberner replaced by Nick Suban in the fourth quarter.

UMPIRES: Dalgleish, Mitchell, Mollison

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Dwayne Russell, Gerard Healy, Alastair Lynch, Barry Hall