Late charge by the Dockers just falls short in tense final quarter.
Sydney and Fremantle were the first side this season to share the competition points after being deadlocked at 70 apiece at the SCG.
Dockers big man Michael Johnson had a chance to be the last-gasp hero for his side when he had a shot on goal in the dying seconds, only to see Sydney’s Sam Reid make a game-saving mark.
Fremantle did well to be even be in contention to win the clash after trailing by 27 points going into the last term.
But the away side kicked 4.4 in the last quarter to see them go home with a share of the points in one of the games of the season.
Fremantle had 10 more scoring shots than their opponents and were still not able to come away with the win, with the issue to be addressed heavily during the week.
“There’s disappointment about the whole night, but we scored rapidly late and we probably would have pinched it in the end (with a little more time),” Fremantle coach Ross Lyon said.
“Really good character and never-give-up attitude, but after a positive start, the second quarter was really poor on lots of levels.
“We’ve spoken about (our mistakes) and they were really easy and fixable, if we wanted to work together better. So that was a concern.”
The Dockers’ search for a match-winning forward wasn’t helped by a suspected ankle injury to Michael Walters, who was helped off the field in the third quarter and played no further part in the match.
Lyon had already activated the side’s substitute, meaning the visitors were a man down for the majority of the second half.
Sydney will look to bounce back when they head to the MCG to play Collingwood in what could be the game of the round, while Fremantle host the lowly Melbourne Demons.
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