FREMANTLE has notched back-to-back wins for the first time in 2008, triumphing over Port Adelaide by 28 points in a topsy-turvy encounter this afternoon at AAMI Stadium.

Challenged pre-match by the loss of skipper Matthew Pavlich and during the game when Port hit the front in the third term, Fremantle stood up to find an incredible 16 individual goal scorers in the 20.9 (129) to 15.11 (101) win in front of a crowd of 19,072.

It wasn't only a club record number of goalkickers, but equalled the all-time margin set by Essendon in 1998 and matched by Hawthorn in 2000 and West Coast in 2005.

Mark Johnson (three), Luke McPharlin and Ryan Crowley (two each) were the only multiple goalscorers in Freo’s first away win for the season, while Rhys Palmer – the late replacement for Pavlich, who withdrew with knee trouble – was outstanding for the winners, his 31 possessions further strengthening his claims to the 2008 Rising Star trophy.

He was well supported by Ryan Crowley (28 possessions) and Byron Schammer (27), who celebrated his 100th match for Freo in fine style.

Port skipper Warren Tredrea and young Justin Westhoff led the goalscoring for the Power with four each, while Dom Cassisi and Kane Cornes [39 possessions] battled hard.

Earlier, the withdrawal of Pavlich drew the best possible initial response from his teammates, a blistering six goal opening term while keeping the Power goalless.

It began with the perfect start, the visitors putting two goals on the board (to Mark Johnson and Josh Carr) before Port had time to settle.

When McPharlin added a third after 11 minutes, and then Anthony Grover followed with another soon after, it seemed Port’s heads may still be in last week’s Showdown win over Adelaide (described by Power centre half-back Troy Chaplin as their ‘Grand Final’). Then when McPharlin and Aaron Sandilands repeated the dose Fremantle were out by six goals after the opening 21 minutes of the match.

Schammer was in everything in his 100th match (10 touches in the first term) while Palmer had eight. Jeff Farmer showed he was switched on, centering the ball to advantage on several occasions when he could have blazed away.

It was Port’s first goalless quarter for the year, despite their previous litany of horrors at home.

Then the rain came … and so did Port.

Four goals in the opening 14 minutes of the second term – two of them to Westhoff, one to Tredrea – saw the Power claw their way back to within reach, before Fremantle decided to try and put the clamps on.

It did the trick in drying up the Power scoring, but also meant that the visitors had no-one to go to when they did try and move the ball forward.

The deadlock was eventually broken by a ripping bull-at-a-gate roving goal to Mark Johnson, who jammed through the match’s first at the northern end after 48 minutes of football.

The Power skipper then stepped up with a couple of goals, broken by a fine set shot by Ryan Murphy which kept Fremantle 13 points in front at the long break.

With most of the stats having evened up over the course of the half, Fremantle still led in one important facet – hard ball gets (24 to 14). Port came out after half-time like they’d been given the message they needed to harden up.

Two goals in the opening four minutes to Westhoff brought the home side back within two points. Fremantle replied with a goal off the shin of Shaun McManus, but it seemed to be ‘finger in the dyke’ stuff. Two more goals to Port – Tredrea’s fourth and Cassisi’s first – soon saw Port in front for the first time.

Then Fremantle showed the sort of resistance that has been absent for much of the year.

Goals to Chris Tarrant – set up by a Palmer fast-break – followed by a scorching 65 metre bomb from Brett Peake and then a beauty to Chris Mayne had the men in purple-and-white back in charge.

Danyle Pearce and David Mundy swapped ‘floaters’, before super goals on the run to Josh Head and Garrick Ibbotson – the side's 13th goalkicker – gave the visitors a remarkable 27 point lead at three quarter time.

The final term started with the sides trading goals – two apiece – throughout the opening eight minutes, with Fremantle’s both coming from Crowley

Daniel Motlop and Palmer then traded goals, before Fremantle closed the game out with late goals to Johnson and Scott Thornton.

Fremantle now host the Derby against West Coast next Sunday afternoon, while Port travel to the Telstra Dome to meet St Kilda.

MATCH DETAILS

Port Adelaide  0.3 6.5 11.6 15.11 (101)
Fremantle          6.3 8.6 15.9 20.9 (129)

GOALS
Port Adelaide: Tredrea, Westhoff 4, Cassisi, Motlop 2, Brogan, Pearce, S Burgoyne
Fremantle: Mark Johnson 3, McPharlin, Crowley, Carr, Grover, Sandilands, Murphy, Head, Mayne, Mundy, Ibbotson, Tarrant, Peake, McManus, Palmer, Thornton.

BEST
Port Adelaide: Westhoff, Tredrea, K Cornes, Cassisi, Pearce
Fremantle: Palmer, Crowley, Schammer, Sandilands, Mark Johnson,

INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Salopek (Achilles), Tredrea (shoulder), Chaplin (ankle)
Fremantle: Pavlich (knee) replaced in selected side by Palmer, Warnock (TBA)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: S. Stewart, R. Chamberlain, S. Jeffery

Official crowd: 19,072 at AAMI Stadium

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or the clubs.