While the boisterous Purple Army were as important as always in Fremantle’s one-point win against Sydney on Saturday night, Andrew Brayshaw was especially thankful for one particular fan at Optus Stadium.
The young midfielder put the game out of Sydney’s reach by blasting the football into an empty forwardline with just seconds left on the clock, ensuring that Freo held on by the slimmest of margins.
Brayshaw said that the team were thankful to one fan for their help ahead of a ball-up deep in Sydney’s forward line in the final minute.
“There was word going around. Someone in the crowd yelled out ‘10 seconds’ – we already knew that there wasn’t much more than a minute to go, so all the boys were playing man-on-man, to get it out and get it long,” Brayshaw said.
“Me and Switta (Sam Switkowski) were chasing after it and then the siren went. The relief on Switta’s face, and mine as well, it showed everything.
“(To that fan) whoever you are, thank you very much.”
The win was Freo’s sixth game decided by under a goal in 2019, and Brayshaw said that the team went into the final moments feeling confident they could hold on.
“It’s always relieving when you get those close wins. We’ve been there a few times this year, so we can take some confidence out of those games and I had 100 per cent confidence in the boys,” Brayshaw said.
“In that stoppage in the defensive 50 with a few seconds to go. We stuck to our structure, got it out of there and got the win. I couldn’t be happier.”
With captain Nat Fyfe on the sidelines with an elbow infection, Brayshaw was given the opportunity to rotate through the midfield.
The result was one of Brayshaw’s best performances from his two years in the AFL, finishing with 20 disposals, 12 contested possessions, five marks, eight tackles and five inside 50s.
Brayshaw said that it was a team effort in the middle.
“When we found out Fyfey wasn’t going to be playing, we knew a few of us boys had the chance to stand up,” Brayshaw said.
“Connor Blakely, I thought as really good and David (Mundy) is always really good.
“We played our roles in there and to see Reece Conca, he could have kicked about four today. He was really lively in there and I think the boys all just stepped up.”
