Port Adelaide has seen off a Lance Franklin-led smash-and-grab raid by Sydney to boost their top-four tilt with a thrilling 10-point win at Adelaide Oval.
It was a final quarter to remember for Franklin, whose tackle on Power defender Tom Jonas lit social media up midway through the term.
He converted ensuing free into points, which was enough to make the home crowd nervous.
When the former Hawk kicked his fourth major shortly afterwards, the Swans were in front with just over five minutes remaining.
However, late goals to super sub Sam Mayes and ruckman Scott Lycett sealed a pulsating 12.9 (81) to 10.11 (71) win for the home side.
The Power led by as much as 16 points in the second half, but the Swans had all the momentum in the final term and looked set to pull off a stunning border raid, having flown into South Australia on the morning of the match due to Covid-19 restrictions.
But Ollie Wines and Travis Boak were terrific late in a midfield that wrested back the momentum to hand Port its 10th win of the season.
“There’s no doubt (the game) was slipping away a little … but I thought our resilience was remarkable,” coach Ken Hinkley said.
“There was a bit of an opportunity to not keep at it and to our boys’ credit they did keep at it.”
Franklin was the star up front for the Swans, with Callum Mills finishing with 10 clearances and 30 disposals and Luke Parker the leading possession winner on the ground with 34.
“I thought we showed great character in the last quarter to come back and hit the front,” coach John Longmire said.
“It would’ve been great to be able to hang on but they were a bit too good.”
