Coming into this game, Sydney had won four of their last five, while Freo had lost four of their last five. Balanced against that was the fact that Freo had not lost to Sydney.
The game started in fine conditions, and Freo looked to be dominating, as the kicked 4 goals in the first quarter while holding Sydney goalless. Everything looked good for Fremantle. Hunter was leading strongly, and the half back line was completely dominating the Sydney forwards. Just before quarter time it started to drizzle, and during the quarter time break the rain just kept getting heavier. Not that the Sydneysiders would have noticed, with Eade giving them a fine old roasting.
The rain was heavy throughout the second and third quarters. The conditions were extremely difficult, and goals were hard to come by. Sydney dominated the game while the rain fell, but wasn't able to convert their opportunities, despite a number of very easy chances, including a set shot from about 5m out for Bayes at the end of the third quarter. Fremantle, with the exception of McGovern, seemed to think that they were playing in the dry, or that they had already done enough. Whatever the reason, their efforts in the rain were pretty poor.
During the fourth quarter, the rain began to ease off again, and Freo were able to add just one more goal to finally seal the game. Their first quarter was excellent, in the fourth they were competitive, but the less said about the stuff in the middle the better.
In the end though, Fremantle kicked 6.12, and won by kicking straighter than their opponents. Not that Freo were alone in being inaccurate this weekend. Geelong kicked 9.26 to defeat Collingwood, while Brisbane scored 7.26 to defeat Richmond by 18 points. Literally. And both of those games were played in fine conditions, so suddenly Fremantle don't look so bad.
Final Score : Fremantle 6.12-48 defeated Sydney 3.15-33
timn_from_oz
© 1997 t.neame@trl.telstra.com.au
Return to TimN's Home Page