Fremantle defender Garrick Ibbotson says the side’s structure helped the team win its tense clash with the Western Bulldogs on Sunday.

Freo won by 13 points but the Bulldogs kicked a number of unanswered goals in the second half to make it a close finish.

Dog forward Tory Dickson kicked seven goals in a dominant display.

Ibbotson said it was pleasing to win a tight game.

“It’s always good to play a tight game, it gives us an opportunity to play that style of game,” he said.

“We just had to back our structure to get us through a tight game.”

Ibbotson said Fremantle lost its structure for some periods of the game, allowing the Dogs to score quick goals.

“When they came as hard as they were, they got out the back of us a little bit in the last quarter, which is probably why they scored so many goals,” he said.

Ibbotson said seven straight wins was a good start to the season but every game is proving tough to win.

“It’s obviously a good spot to be in,” he said.

“It’s hard to win games each week, this was a tough one.

“It’s a long season and it’s a good position to be in now, but we know that it won’t get it done for the rest of the season.”