FREMANTLE has stunned St Kilda with a miraculous one-point come-from-behind victory at Moorabbin, made worse for the home side by two potentially serious leg injuries.

SAINTS' NIGHTMARE RESULT Full match coverage and stats

The Saints led for most of the day, but defender Molly McDonald gave away a 50-metre penalty to hand Kate Flood an easy goal to level the scores with two minutes to go.

Brain fade costly for Saints Molly McDonald gives away 50 metres and an easy goal to Fremantle in the dying minutes, to tie the game Share via Facebook

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McDonald initially looked to be St Kilda's hero, with a goal to give the Saints some breathing space early in the last term.

Gemma Houghton kicked three points for the day, but her most crucial miss came in the dying stages to give the Dockers a 3.6 (24) to 3.5 (23) win.

AFLW Match Highlights: St Kilda v Fremantle The Saints and Dockers clash in Round 4 of the AFLW Share via Facebook

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Kiara Bowers celebrates a goal with her Dockers teammates. Picture: AFL Photos

The day was marred by injuries to key Saints Kate McCarthy and Tarni White.



White went down in the first quarter with a suspected ACL injury, while McCarthy got her leg caught underneath her in a tackle from Angelique Stannett in the third quarter.

Big blow for Saints Tarni White goes down and gets carried off with a suspected leg injury Share via Facebook

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After a goalless first term for both sides, Dockers midfielder Jasmin Stewart ended the drought with a sharp finish from a stoppage early in the second quarter.

Stewart scoops opening goal Jasmin Stewart scores the opening goal after bursting clear and kicking truly Share via Facebook

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The third and fourth quarters started in an eerily similar fashion, as Caitlin Greiser put the Saints in front with a goal less than 30 seconds into the second half.

Greiser's gritty goal Caitlin Greiser battles it out in the goalsquare for a quick goal to start the second half Share via Facebook

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Kiara Bowers did the same thing for the Dockers with a goal immediately to kick off the fourth quarter.

Two minutes of madness

The final two minutes were tense enough already, but the drama was heightened with a scoreboard error. A behind was missed somewhere along the line, and the big screen on the ground displayed the Saints and Dockers level at 23 points each before a late correction showed Fremantle as being one point ahead.



Undefeated… for now

The Dockers now sit as the only side with four wins and zero losses, but the draw has been reasonably kind for Fremantle. Sunday's game was the first interstate trip for the club, but the next four challengers are the Lions, Bulldogs, Demons and Blues. None of those games will be easy.



Who's that?

St Kilda debutant Poppy Kelly didn't look out of place in her first AFLW call up. With 12 disposals and 16 hit-outs, the first-gamer looked strong in the ruck and read the play well when she switched with Rhiannon Watt deep in defence.

Poppy Kelly takes on Roxy Roux. Picture: AFL Photos

The difference

12 tackles almost seems like an off-day for the tenacious Kiara Bowers. The Dockers midfielder was outstanding with 13 disposals and a goal to go with her typically strong defensive efforts. With 58 tackles in four games, her average tackles per game have actually dropped from 15.3 to 14.5 after Sunday's match.



Say what?

"I feel really sorry for her (McDonald). Probably would have been nice if we had kicked a couple of more goals for her so we didn't win by that one point." – Fremantle coach Trent Cooper said post-match.



"The last 30 seconds when Gemma unfortunately missed that goal, we thought it was a draw." – Fremantle midfielder Hailey Miller on the scoreboard mix-up.



"Molly is hurting. She's pretty upset, but how's Molly after the goal she kicked? I said mate you kept us in the game." – St Kilda coach Peta Searle on what she said to McDonald following the heartbreaking loss.



"She loves the weights room. She's got bigger biceps than me for sure." – St Kilda's Alison Drennan on what Tarni White will do following her knee injury.

St Kilda's Tarni White shows her emotions after sustaining an injury against Fremantle. Picture: AFL Photos

What's next?

The Saints face the in-form Blues at Ikon Park next Saturday night at 7.10pm AEDT as they hunt for their second win. Fremantle will head back home to host Brisbane on Sunday at 2.10pm AWST as it hopes to remain undefeated.





ST KILDA 0.1 1.1 2.4 3.5 (23)

FREMANTLE 0.2 1.3 1.3 3.6 (24)

GOALS

St Kilda: Greiser, Vesely, McDonald

Fremantle: Stewart, Bowers, Flood

BEST

St Kilda: Vesely, Drennan, Watt, Dillon, Greiser, Lucas-Rodd,

Fremantle: Miller, Bowers, Grieve, K.Antonio, Seth, E.Antonio



INJURIES

St Kilda: Tarni White (knee), Kate McCarthy (leg)

Fremantle:Nil

LATE CHANGES

St Kilda: Nil

Fremantle: Nil

Reports: Nil

Crowd: Approx. 4000 at RSEA Safety Park

Did you head to the footy over the weekend? Tell us what you thought! #AFLW



Take survey: https://t.co/Ft5gCwz98K pic.twitter.com/o9t4bCYBku — AFL Women's (@aflwomens) February 12, 2020