A WELL-executed plan to overthrow the second placed Demons came to fruition over the weekend when Fremantle picked up its fourth win for the season and kept its finals hopes alive. Four points – and considerable percentage outside the eight – the purple army may not be done for just yet, after producing a remarkable five-point victory over Melbourne.

Fremantle coach Lisa Webb said she was “thrilled” with the performance across the game, with what the players were able to do.

“We managed to put together especially early in the first quarter, that scoreboard pressure that we’ve really struggled with at times, so really pleased that they were able to execute under pressure,” she said.

“They’re a terrific team we had a plan to come in and sometimes it doesn’t always go that way, but I thought the girls stood really tough and showed a lot of grit, especially in that last quarter. “But to be able to convert like we couldn’t over the last few weeks was pleasing for us.”

It seems a lifetime away that after a record-breaking 100-point loss to North Melbourne, Fremantle coach Lisa Webb was defending the club which some media described as at a “crisis point”. Six weeks later and the Dockers have gone 3-3, and while not completely out of the woods, are at a strong point in the season.

Webb said she felt the side has always been strong around the ball, but executed better when it counted which lead to the result.

“I thought we were more composed with ball in hand as well,” she said. “We weren’t just giving it back to them unnecessarily at times.”

Part of the plan for the Dockers was to negate the impact of some of Melbourne’s most damaging players, which was a fluid discussion throughout the contest.

“They’re a terrific team as I said, they’ve got great players all over the ground,” Webb said. “(Tyla) Hanks was getting off the chain, so was Paxy (Paxman), so we had to do a little bit more about that. “Obviously looked early at (Maeve) Chaplin, she’s a terrific player that’s been dominating to be honest, so we put a bit of a negating role on her.

“Sometimes you’ve got to have the right players to be able to do it, but I was really proud of the group. Not matter what role I threw at them, and all 21 pitched in which is most pleasing.”

The Dockers coach praised the work of first-year player Georgie Brisbane who was able to be swung back for a second successive week to help save the game for the Dockers in the tight moments.

“She’s just really good at reading the flight of the footy and she’s going to be a terrific player for us going forward,” Webb said. “We just keep setting her different challenges and she seems to be able to work through them, so she’s just a young player who is a real role player, no matter what we ask of her she does it. She’s got that grit and determination which we love at Freo.”

Fremantle’s finals hopes could rest on a Round 12 contest with Adelaide, though the Dockers do need to get the job done against bottom four sides Richmond and GWS Giants if they are to secure a place in the top eight.