Collingwood have kept their AFL Women's finals hopes alive with a hard fought one-point victory over Fremantle in hot conditions at Rushton Park.
With just one win from their opening four games, Collingwood had to win to remain in the finals race with two matches remaining.
They led by two goals when Jess Cameron scored a major just before half-time but two quick goals from Fremantle to open the second half set up a thrilling finish.
The Dockers dominated the final term as the temperature surpassed 30 degrees celsius but could only manage five behinds as Collingwood held on to win 5.2 (32) to 4.7 (31).
Collingwood star Moana Hope was held to just four kicks for one goal and one behind by Fremantle's Tayla Bresland, but she did take a match-saving mark at half-back in the dying stages.
Nicola Stevens racked up 18 possessions and six marks for Collingwood with Melissa Kuys gathering 17 disposals, Jess Cameron 12 and Alicia Eva 12.
Lara Filocamo had 21 disposals for the Dockers, Dana Hooker 20 and Gemma Houghton 15.
Collingwood coach Wayne Siekman was relieved to come away with the win by a solitary point to keep his team's hopes of a berth in the grand final alive.
"It's always good to win a game of footy, especially to be the first Victorian side to travel interstate and win. That's a good little moment," Siekman said.
"It was a good learning experience for us. As the game went on you could see we were fatiguing and getting tired more than likely because of the heat but the road trip came into that a little bit too."
Fremantle coach Michelle Cowan couldn't fault her team's effort but couldn't hide her disappointment.
"We certainly had our chances. We had 32 inside 50s to 14 and had our opportunities throughout the whole game," Cowan said.
"I'm devastated for the girls who have worked really hard and came out here to compete.
"I thought we played some really good footy but unfortunately were just off the result that we wanted."
Fremantle will chase their first win of the season on Friday night against Carlton at Domain Stadium while Collingwood takes on the Greater Western Sydney Giants at Olympic Park Oval on Sunday, March 12.
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