Fremantle senior coach Justin Longmuir has lauded his team’s efforts in a gutsy two-point win over the Crows in hostile territory. 

Speaking in his post-match media conference, Longmuir said his team took learnings from the Round 1 loss to Geelong and, on Friday night at Adelaide Oval, won the game late through sheer desperation. 

“We had a similar situation (against Geelong), with a team coming at us and the crowd getting involved in the game, and I just thought we played really safe against Geelong,” Longmuir said. 

“There are opportunities to drive a game, and we just played way too safe and into the opposition’s hands.

“I thought we were better at that tonight. 

“It’s not a finished product, it wasn’t perfect, but we had some moments where we could have just gone and kicked it long, but we actually drove the ball and the game opened up for us. 

“I thought it was a step forward in that sense. 

“First half, we played really well. We stifled their ball movement, were really strong in the contest, and were efficient going inside forward 50, which is hard to do against them.” 

“I didn’t think they got on top by slicing us up with ball movement. They just got on top by rolling their sleeves up and playing the game in their front half.

“I think the crowd probably had an effect. It can feel a little bit suffocating when you get stuck in your back 50 here, and we just succumbed to that field-position pressure. 

“I felt like we probably held on, not through system and method, but we held on through desperation late. 

“We’ve got some work to do there, but It’s easier to take those lessons with a win.” 

Leading for the majority of the game, Longmuir admitted his side knew the Crows would challenge them.  

After losing the lead midway through the final term, his side adjusted, wrestling momentum back by attacking the game. 

This was highlighted by the side’s willingness to play on through the corridor from defensive 50 chains late in the fourth quarter, leading to goals from Shai Bolton and Josh Treacy.

"We knew they were going to challenge us at some stage," Longmuir said. 

"Once we coughed up the lead I thought we handled that period of the game really well. 

“I’ve never felt like we haven’t had belief that when we play our way and put it all together, we can challenge anyone. 

“I think the growth has come from individual players taking another step forward in their own games as well, which has taken our whole game to another level.” 

Fremantle’s win over the Crows is the first of two consecutive trips to South Australia. 

Fremantle will return in Round 5 to face Collingwood on Friday 10 April at Adelaide Oval, as part of Gather Round.