Fremantle was forced to scrap and fight for its four points until the death against the Western Bulldogs on Friday night at Marvel Stadium.

Up against a battered and bruised Western Bulldogs outfit, Fremantle were on the back foot early before forcing their way back to claim the 17.12 (114) to 15.12 (102) victory in the open air.

It hands the Dogs a fourth consecutive loss for the first time since 2019.

It was a Hayden Young special in the second half, shaking off his opposition to kick three crucial goals – the third the best of the lot, front tight in the pocket under pressure – and capitalising on a weakened and tiring Bulldogs defence.

An inspirational performance from Marcus Bontempelli (33 disposals, two goals) threatened to drag the Dogs back over the line, despite being clearly hampered, but Freo stood strong.

Winning the hitout count 61-23 and the clearances 45-37, they were metrics that Fremantle dominated throughout the game but only became truly able to capitalise on in the second half.

The Bulldogs made an early statement. Moving with speed into attack allowed them to create chaos in their front half, and find gaps in the Freo's defensive structure, kicking six opening-quarter goals.

Where the Bulldogs were super-efficient going forward, the Freo Dockers were the opposite early in the piece. They struggled to generate genuine looks at goal, either with poor decision-making heading inside 50, or being unable to clunk marks in contested situations.

That’s not to say the Dogs didn’t have some calamitous moments. More than once did opportunities at goal go begging because they overpossessed the footy deep in attack, opting to share it around rather than take the responsibility of the shot.

To get things back on its terms, Fremantle moved into a slow, controlled kick-mark mode, taking away the frantic chaos that had been working so well for the home side.

They went slow to go fast, getting the ball into the hand of their runners, and it changed the momentum of the game to great effect.

Isaiah Dudley (two goal assists, one goal) was neatly setting up teammates while also hitting the scoreboard himself, Sam Switkowski (three goals) got into some dangerous positions, and the side’s buzz-player Murphy Reid (22 disposals, one goal) dobbed a massive goal on the half-time siren to give the visitors plenty of momentum heading into the main break.

But in a second-half surge for the Freo Dockers, Luke Jackson (18 disposals, 36 hitouts, one goal) became increasingly dangerous, and Josh Treacy (three goals, eight marks) revved up once his teammates established their slick, quick ball movement out of centre stoppage.

Despite carrying a heavily strapped right knee and spending five minutes having that taping re-done in the first quarter, Bontempelli already had 15 disposals and 297 metres gained to the first break. His capacity to spread away from the contest unmarked was a must-fix for Fremantle, but he still spent much of the game allowed to do as he pleased.

WESTERN BULLDOGS    6.3    9.6    11.9   15.12 (102)
FREMANTLE            2.1    7.4    12.7   17.12 (114)

GOALS  
Western Bulldogs: Naughton 2, West 2, Lewis 2, Bontempelli 2, McNeil 2, Richards, Vandermeer, Sanders, Jones, Bramble, 
Fremantle: Switkowski 3, Young 3, Treacy 3, Jackson, Dudley, Frederick, Erasmus, Reid, Chapman, Brayshaw, Bolton

BEST  
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Richards, Naughton, West, Dale
Fremantle: Young, Jackson, Switkowski, Reid, Clark, Bolton

INJURIES  
Western Bulldogs: Vandermeer (right hamstring), 
Fremantle: Nil

Crowd: 23,071 at Marvel Stadium