Fremantle fought hard to contain an inaccurate Essendon who eventually ran out to win by 29 points at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Freo trailed by one-goal at the last change before losing momentum to the Bombers as they kicked four goals to Freo’s one to seal a 13.21 (99) to 11.4 (70) victory.
It was just the Bombers' second win at Freo's expense in their past seven meetings – and came despite trailing by eight points at half-time – and means they've won five of their past six outings.
Essendon largely dominated a youth-laden Fremantle line-up that was a long way from home, but still found the plucky visitors' tag tough to shake.
Everything bar the scoreboard was lopsided, with the Bombers winning disposals (380-319), contested possessions (157-137), clearances (41-28), marks inside 50 (22-10) and inside 50s (63-35) in a canter.
That eventually told, although it wasn't until David Myers' kick and hope from barely inside the boundary went through for a goal at the 20-minute mark of the final term that they were safe.
Fremantle was set to field the round's youngest side until Sean Darcy's groin tightened up in the warm-up and he was replaced by veteran Michael Johnson in his last AFL season.
Essendon, on the other hand, was the second-oldest, sporting 11 players aged between 26 and 29 years and nine players with at least 100 games' experience.
Johnson's 33 years and 239 matches muddied the Dockers' averages somewhat, but didn't change the theme.
Michael Walters was one of the reasons Fremantle – which was missing Nat Fyfe and Aaron Sandilands – had a pulse for as long as it did, kicking three goals and racking up nine score involvements.
Lachie Neale paced the Dockers in the clinches with 30 possessions (12 contested), with hard-working first-year midfielder Bailey Banfield a willing ally with six clearances of his own.
MEDICAL ROOM
Essendon: Shaun McKernan was enjoying the best patch of his decade-long AFL career with Joe Daniher out, but he now joins the Bombers' injured star forward on the sidelines. McKernan looked to seriously injure his left hamstring when he launched for a mark in the opening minutes of the second term. Two trainers carried him from the field and he was soon relying on crutches, with his season potentially in danger.
Fremantle: Fremantle were already without Aaron Sandilands then lost his incumbent, Sean Darcy, when the 20-year-old's groin tightened up in the warm-up. Darcy originally came from the ground a week earlier against Port Adelaide with the same problem.
ESSENDON 2.5 4.11 9.16 13.21 (99)
FREMANTLE 4.0 7.1 10.4 11.4 (70)
GOALS
Essendon: Fantasia 5, Brown 3, Smith 2, Baguley, Zaharakis, Myers
Fremantle: Walters 3, Johnson 2, Neale, Cerra, Sutcliffe, Mundy, Matera, McCarthy
BEST
Essendon: Smith, Zaharakis, Fantasia, Heppell, Merrett, Hurley
Fremantle: Neale, Walters, Banfield, Pearce, Hamling, Wilson
INJURIES
Essendon: McKernan (left hamstring)
Fremantle: Darcy (groin, replaced in side by Johnson)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Gavine, Hay, Ryan
Official crowd: 31,564 at Etihad Stadium
