Fremantle has survived a late surge from Port Adelaide and moved a game clear in the top-four after securing a nail-biting eight-point win over Port Adelaide at Optus Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The match started in frantic style, with Port winning the early stoppages and running riot on the outside with quick ball movement. 

By the time Freo gathered themselves, they had conceded the first three goals and needed to respond in the middle to get their game going.

Veteran David Mundy was the ignitor, setting up Matt Taberner to boot the team's first and later streaming out of the centre square to hit Lobb lace out as Freo went on a roll of their own.

Only a brilliant snap in the pocket from Marshall interrupted Fremantle's four-goal run, ensuring scores were tied at the first break.

It was then Fremantle went on their match-defining run, with captain Nat Fyfe kicking the first of four straight goals – and his first for the season – when he marked inside-50 and converted his set shot.

The margin blew out to 25 points before the Power responded through the accurate long kicking of Sam Powell-Pepper and Kane Farrell, but Caleb Serong's brilliance in the pocket restored a four-goal lead at the main break.

Lobb took over in the third term, kicking three of his five goals in a powerful display of contested marking and accurate kicking that will have Freo desperate to retain the valuable tall in 2023.

With a 40-point lead late in the term, the result seemed all but settled, until Dixon sparked a late charged in the final term that had Fremantle rattled and relieved on the final siren.

Andrew Brayshaw laid a heroic chase-down tackle on Jeremy Finlayson to set up the crucial goal to Lachie Schultz that gave Freo some breathing room in the dying stages.

Fremantle forward Rory Lobb was outstanding, booting a career-best five goals and dominating his side's middle stages of the game as Freo made their move.

Ruckman Sean Darcy was also enormous, controlling the stoppages against makeshift opponents Finlayson and Charlie Dixon and giving Fremantle a stoppage advantage that they relished, winning the clearances 48-30.

Jordan Clark played one of his best games for the club with a career-best 29 disposals and seven inside 50s, while fellow recruit James Aish (29 and two goals) stood up at big moments. 

After last week's disappointing loss to Carlton, Fremantle responded in emphatic fashion against a team doing their utmost to make a late run to finals.

To go with the frantic final term, there was plenty for the highlight reel with Georgiades and Docker Hayden Young both taking Mark of the Year contenders, while Caleb Serong could very well have kicked the Goal of the Year.

Serong's buzzer beater
The winner of Goal of the Year last season, Caleb Serong, lodged his entry for this year's award with four seconds to play in the second term. Swooping on Finlayson's stray hit-out into space, the Freo midfielder gathered the ball as he was running towards the boundary in the pocket and expertly converted on his left to cap a dominant quarter from his team. The brilliant goal was from the opposite pocket to last year's snap against West Coast at Optus Stadium, which capped off a Glendenning-Allen Medal performance from the young gun.

FREMANTLE                    4.2   10.4   14.8   15.9 (99)
PORT ADELAIDE             4.2   6.3     9.4    14.7 (91)

GOALS
Fremantle: Lobb 5, Aish 2, Taberner 2, Schultz 2, Brayshaw, Frederick, Fyfe, Serong
Port Adelaide: Dixon 2, Georgiades 2, Rozee 2, Amon, Bergman, Boak, Burton, Farrell, Marshall, Mead, Powell-Pepper

BEST
Fremantle: Lobb, Darcy, Aish, Clark, Serong, Brayshaw, Young
Port Adelaide: Wines, Boak, Rozee, Dixon, Byrne-Jones, Burton

INJURIES
Fremantle: Taberner (hamstring)
Port Adelaide: Nil

LATE CHANGES
Fremantle: Nil
Port Adelaide: Xavier Duursma (quad) replaced by Miles Bergman

SUBSTITUTES
Fremantle: Bailey Banfield (replaced Taberner in the fourth quarter)
Port Adelaide: Steven Motlop (replaces Jones in the third quarter)