FREMANTLE has revived its season with a powerful 48-point win against a weakened Essendon, dominating the contest at Fremantle Community Bank Oval and keeping the Bombers to a single goal on Saturday afternoon.
Two weeks after their season hit a flashpoint with a 100-point loss to North Melbourne, the Dockers produced a brilliant pressure performance and flexed their midfield muscle to win 9.2 (56) to 1.2 (8), squaring their season at 3-3.
DOCKERS v BOMBERS Full match coverage and stats
It was a forgettable day for the injury-ravaged Bombers, who were held to just 0.1 across the first three quarters and only avoided a record low score when Daria Bannister got free to kick a running goal and Bonnie Toogood kicked a late behind in the dying minutes.
It was a third straight defeat for the visitors, who are also now 3-3 after making a bright start to the season, with the defeat coming on the back of a 52-point defeat to St Kilda last week.
Fremantle midfielder Kiara Bowers was outstanding for Fremantle, laying a massive 21 tackles to fall just short of her own record of 22, and racking up 22 disposals and 13 contested possessions.
It was a clinical performance from the Dockers, who built their win with relentless tackling pressure (92-63) and a hunger for the contested ball (131-119) in an even team performance.
When the Bombers did go forward, Freo was unrelenting and won critical contests, with Emma O'Driscoll wearing star forward Bonnie Toogood closely in the team's best performance this season.
The Dockers jumped into the game with a daring and direct style, but it came as a cost as they handed the ball back to Essendon several times through the opening 10 minutes.
The Bombers' only score came when Toogood, who had been well held by O'Driscoll, snapped a behind, with the Dockers entering the main break in complete control.
The second half was more even on the scoreboard and included the bombers sole goal when Bannister converted on the run, with interest centring on whether Bowers would break her own tackling record as the Dockers reignited their campaign.
