Melbourne beats Fremantle, Adelaide hammers Bulldogs to lock up AFLW finals spots

Melbourne has won a thriller against Fremantle after Adelaide thumped the Western Bulldogs by 56 points to secure their places in the AFLW finals leading into the last round of the season.

Fremantle missed out on a chance to go top in the 5.7 (37) to 4.8 (32) loss, which came down to a Maddison Gay goal in the dying minutes.

The Demons had shot out of the gates and led 29-6 at half-time as the Dockers kicked six behinds in the opening half. But they found their radar and staged a second-half comeback.

Fremantle kicked four straight goals and hit the lead thanks to Gemma Houghton, before a 50-metre penalty in the middle of the field cost them dearly.

Fremantle’s Emma O’Driscoll strayed too close to Melbourne star Daisy Pearce after a mark…