The home side found the will and desire to run over the brilliant Cats, who were led by 2009 Brownlow Medallist Gary Ablett and Norm Smith Medallist Paul Chapman. Freo managed to hold most of the Geelong stars at bay in the first half, except for Ablett and Chapman, who almost singlehandedly kept the Cats in it.
The two sides traded blows in the first three quarters, but neither could find the knockout punch.
Star tagger Cameron Ling was assigned the task on Freo third-gamer Michael Barlow, but the Geelong captain had his afternoon cut short after a clash with Michael Johnson.
However, Barlow followed Ling to the sidelines as another casualty of this bruising match not long after. After the Cats had led by 14 points at three quarter time, an injury to Nick Suban halted proceedings with just minutes left and Geelong up by a solitary point.
After peppering the goals but only registering three behinds for its effort, Fremantle finally found that knockout punch in the form of Paul Duffield, who pounced on a Geelong turnover to kick the match-winning goal and send the home crowd into delirium.
It was a truly thrilling clash that saw 14 lead changes throughout. Skipper Matthew Pavlich was incredible with five goals and 26 possessions and young gun Stephen Hill lit up the turf with a series of daring runs in one of the club’s greatest ever victories.
Round 3, 2010 Sunday 11 April, Subiaco Oval
Fremantle 3.6 9.8 12.12 18.17 (125) def Geelong 4.4 8.10 14.14 17.16 (118)
Goals: Pavlich 5; Headland, Hill, Ballantyne, Morabito, McPhee 2; Duffield, Hayden, Barlow
Attendance: 38,762* record home attendance v Geelong
Brownlow Medal votes: 3 - Pavlich, 2 - Ablett (Geelong), 1 - Sandilands
