Australian Football

Match Report

Fremantle and Port Adelaide have played out a thrilling, high-pressure contest at Subiaco to open up their 2015 seasons, with the Dockers pipping the Power in what was perhaps the best match of round one. The lead was never greater than 14 points in favour of either side and it was Fremantle which found itself ahead by seven points when the final siren sounded.

Port took the early lead with goals to John Butcher and Matt White in the first five minutes of the match. But the Dockers' renowned defensive structures soon clicked into gear and the Power was unable to register another major for the term. Hayden Ballantyne and Michael Walters meanwhile added goals for the Dockers and Port led 2.5 to 2.1 at the first break.

The Dockers reversed the first term order by kicking the first two goals of the second quarter through Matthew Pavlich and Nat Fyfe but Port closed out the first half with majors to Brad Ebert and Jay Schulz. In between each side scored one other goal, to Jake Neade for Port and Danyle Pearce for Fremantle, and the Power held on to a two-point lead at the long break.

As they had in the first quarter, each side eked out two goals in the third term, Pearce kicking his second at the five-minute mark, before Port responded with one each to Chad Wingard and Ollie Wines to reestablish a 10-point buffer. Pavlich scored a late one for the Dockers and at the last change, the margin was back to three points in the Power's favour.

Two behinds to Fremantle saw that margin reduced to just one early in the final quarter before a second goal to Wines saw Port back out to a seven-point lead. Pavlich responded with his third two minutes later and then Lachie Neale gave the Dockers a six-point lead as the term entered time on. Pavlich added another at the 23-minute mark and the Dockers led by an even two goals. They added a further behind before Wingard goaled to cut the the margin back to seven points. Ballantyne responded with his second but a goal to Travis Boak with a minute and a half left on the clock reduced the difference to seven and gave Port some hope. But the Dockers held firm in the final 90 seconds to record a thrilling first-up victory, revenge in some small way for their loss to Port in last year's Semi Final at the same venue.

Danyle Pearce was outstanding for the victors, with 28 touches and two goals, while Fyfe (31 disposals) and Pavlich (four goals) made excellent contributions. For the Power, Brad Ebert (14 marks, 34 possessions) and Wines (27 disposals, seven marks) were fine contributors.

The Dockers will travel to Kardinia Park to take on Geelong next Sunday while Port will have another tough assignment in round two, hosting Sydney at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.

GOALS
Fremantle: Pavlich 4; D. Pearce, Ballantyne 2; Fyfe, Walters, Neale
 
Port Adelaide: Wines 2; Ebert, Wingard, White, Neade, Schulz, Butcher, Wingard, Boak

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Fremantle: D. Pearce, Fyfe, Pavlich, Mundy, Barlow, Duffield
Port Adelaide: Ebert, Wines, Polec, Gray, Boak, Wingard

INJURIES
Fremantle: Chris Mayne (ankle)
Port Adelaide: Lobbe (quad, replaced in selected team)

SUBSTITUTES
Fremantle: Matt de Boer replaced Chris Mayne during the final quarter
Port Adelaide: Angus Monfries replaced Alipate Carlile during the final quarter

REPORTS: Brett Ebert for tripping Cameron Sutcliffe in the final quarter

UMPIRES: Foot, Margetts, Meredith

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Dwayne Russell, Gerard Healy, Brad Johnson, David King