A KITCHEN fire lit up Domain Stadium before Sunday night’s game, and Port Adelaide and Fremantle threw the kitchen sink at each other in one of the most keenly-anticipated games of the AFL’s Opening Round weekend.
But it was Fremantle that had the better of the Power under lights in Perth, with a narrow seven-point win the reward for late superiority in the game.
The final six minutes of the match went down as one of the great quarters of the round - possibly of the season to come - as Lachie Neale and Matthew Pavlich combined to put Fremantle 13 points ahead with under six minutes to go.
A free kick to Chad Wingard in front of goals - ably converted - kept Port in with a sniff, but a late holding-the-ball penalty against Jasper Pittard running out of defence forcefully nailed the Power's coffin.
Even though Travis Boak managed to snap a brilliant goal to bridge the margin back to seven points once more, Freo piled numbers inside its defensive 50 to suffocate the Power's space in attack.
With fatiguing legs and time eating away, the lead was was too tough for Port to catch, despite repeated waves of attack.
Despite being reported for tripping Cam Sutcliffle late in the quarter, Brad Ebert was the Power's best afield, with 34 touches.
His ability to get into the right place time and again was pivotal in setting up multiple plays.
Robbie Gray, Jared Polec and Ollie Wines were also useful, while captain Travis Boak - while drawing the attention of Fremantle's run-with men all match - also lifted at important moments.
Was Port simply beaten by a better side on the night? Some would argue yes, with both teams holding the momentum at various points throughout the night.
The final seven-point margin wasn't uncharacteristic of the close-fought encounter, with Port leading by narrow three, two and four-point margins at the breaks.
Fremantle winning at more contests and pummelling the ball inside attack 17 more times during the night, while Port was able to use its chances efficiently and with plenty of free run.
That run got Port's game going in the third term with brilliant back-to-back majors briefly taming the Dockers.
Wingard scored the first after a desperate Paddy Ryder and John Butcher combined to feed the Power’s 2013 club champion a ball with clear road to the goal square; Wines getting the second minutes later thanks to a brilliant Boak-Gray-Ebert-Pittard combo running through the middle out of defence.
With its mojo rising, the Power seemed to have control of the game, but Freo swung the momentum again to control the back-end of the quarter and cut the margin back to three points through a late Pavlich goal.
It was little different in the last term, with fatiguing players and a frenzied crowd spurring both sides to life their intensity in a finals-like cauldron.
While Ollie Wines and Wingard kicked their second goals for the night - and Travis Boak curling through a late goal to make things interesting - it wasn't enough to stop Fremantle's final push.
Port Adelaide must now regroup ahead of its blockbuster first home game of the season against Sydney at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday 11 March at 7:10pm.
The health of ruckman Matthew Lobbe - a late omission from Saturday's game with quad tightness - will be reviewed during the week.
SCOREBOARD
PORT ADELAIDE 2.5 5.5 7.8 10.8 (68)
FREMANTLE 2.1 5.3 7.5 11.9 (75)
Goals
Wines, Wingard 2, Butcher, White, Ebert, Neade, Schulz, Boak
PORTADELAIDEFC.COM.AU's BEST
Ebert, Polec, R. Gray, Wines, Trengove, Impey
INJURIES
Lobbe (quad; replaced in selected side by Butcher)
REPORTS
Brad Ebert (tripping)
SUBSTITUTE
Angus Monfries replaced Alipate Carlile in the fourth quarter
CROWD
34,099 at Domain Stadium
