Fremantle fans would have written Saturday night’s script in advance.

They’d have tipped a win, they’d have tipped their team to run away from the Blues in the second half and they’d have expected Luke Jackson would have had a big night in the ruck against former Docker Liam Reidy.

And while it took them longer than expected to pull clear of the Blues, and Carlton gave them a late scare, the script still followed mostly what was written and the Dockers won to 16.7 (103) to 13.11 (89) in front of 54,100 fans.

It was the highest crowd for a Len Hall Tribute game, a record for any clash between the Dockers and Carlton, and Fremantle’s second largest non-derby home-and-away attendance.

Jackson was brilliant. He talked up his desire to become a more dominant player leading into the match and produced 21 disposals, 31 hit-outs and two goals. That part of the script went perfectly.

And Shai Bolton’s creativity, run and skill was too much for the Blues. He had 33 disposals and kicked two goals. His final term was outstanding with 15 possessions and both majors. Bolton won the Arthur Leggett Medal.

Patrick Cripps led the way for the Blues with 31 disposals, 11 clearances and one goal.

Other parts of the script took longer to eventuate. There’s been two clear trends with Carlton this season. They’ve been strong in clearances thanks to their tough players in the midfield. But they’ve led at half-time all year and then run out of legs. That’s led to them being 1-5.

So when Fremantle won the first 12 clearances of the game, alarm bells would have been going off for the Blues. Jackson was giving his midfield the ball on a platter but Carlton fought hard to stay in the contest. They trailed by only eight points at quarter-time.

Jackson’s dominance gained the ultimate reward at the start of the second term with a brilliant goal from the restart and when Jye Amiss followed with another, the Dockers led by 19 points.

The Dockers had more early drama when Josh Treacy collapsed holding his right arm after a collision. Then Brennan Cox needed attention after hurting his leg.

But they recovered and Treacy still managed two goals in the first term.

The Blues stayed in the game though. They figured out their clearance issues, got lucky with some questionable free kicks and capitalised with goals. They reduced the deficit to only six points before Mason Cox stepped up for Fremantle.

He kicked his first goal as a Docker, showed his passion to the crowd by grabbing his jumper and now the Dockers had a 12-point advantage at the long break.

Now they had to take advantage of Carlton’s struggles to finish games.

But the Blues weren’t interested in falling away. They maintained pressure on Fremantle and the Dockers had to change the game with their tackling.

They won five free kicks for holding the ball throughout the term and that was absolutely crucial because the Blues kept creating chances and kicked goals through Mitch McGovern and Ashton Moir.

The Dockers were looking for a game breaker but Jeremy Sharp certainly wasn’t in the pre-game script.

Pat Voss withdrew from the game because of illness just moments before the Dockers ran out and Sharp replaced him.

The midfielder kicked two goals in six minutes to give the Dockers the 18-point breathing room they needed at the final change.

Carlton also made a late change. Ollie Hollands was withdrawn following his family’s emotional week. His brother Elijah was admitted to hospital after suffering a mental health episode during last week’s loss to Collingwood. Carlton felt it was in Ollie’s best interests not to play.

Fans wanted Fremantle to put the game away and that’s precisely what they did with four goals in six minutes to start the final term, It was a devastating burst that won the Dockers the game.

Bolton booted the first two, Michael Frederick kicked the next and when Jackson nailed the fourth, the Dockers led by 41 points and the game was over. Carlton fought back manfully, but that deficit was always going to be too much to erase.