Fremantle beat Geelong in Perth and reached the AFL preliminary final
In Perth, Australia, the Fremantle Dockers defeated the Geelong Cats 120–106 in an Australian Football League semi-final and advanced to the preliminary final. Justin Longmuir’s team will play the Sydney Swans in Sydney for a place in the Grand Final.
As ABC News Australia reports, Fremantle started the match strongly: Shai Bolton kicked two goals in the first two minutes, while the team scored five goals in the opening quarter. In the first half, the Dockers made 45 tackles — almost as many as the 47 they recorded in the entire previous finals match against Hawthorn — and built a 31-point lead.
Geelong’s surge
After the break, Geelong seized the initiative: the team scored six goals to one and moved ahead. Longmuir told Channel 7 after the match that shifts in game control had already occurred in Fremantle’s meetings with Geelong this season.
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According to the coach, his team lost the contest in the third quarter, conceded field position to its opponents and played less boldly with the ball, allowing Geelong to return to the game. He noted that Luke Jackson and Caleb Serong played an important role late in the third quarter.
Fremantle’s response
In five minutes, Jackson had eight disposals, won the ball out of contests three times and kicked two goals. Overall, he finished the match with 25 disposals and eight such clearances.
Patrick Voss kicked four goals, Jye Amiss scored two, while Josh Treacy took eight marks and kicked one goal. The Dockers’ 120 points were the club’s highest score in AFL matches in September.
