A desperate West Coast has fallen agonisingly short of a comeback victory over Port Adelaide on Saturday night, losing by six points in the WA Freeze game.

Port led by 22 points deep in the third quarter but were forced to dig in through the final term and scrap for their fourth win of the season, surviving a one-sided finish to prevent the Eagles from back-to-back victories and get up 11.11 (77) to 10.11 (71) at Optus Stadium.

The Power were forced to withstand a barrage of inside 50s (19-8) in the final quarter, finally prevailing in a close game after being on the end of four losses this season by less than a goal. 

They were helped by missed opportunities for West Coast deep in the game, with spearhead Jake Waterman, young forward Jobe Shanahan and premiership defender Tom Cole all missing set shots down the stretch.

Star midfielder Jason Horne-Francis kicked the Power's only goal for the quarter in a critical intervention, sneaking forward in space and then converting on the run to cap a terrific game for the powerful ball-winner.

The loss for West Coast was compounded by an injury to young star Reuben Ginbey, who suffered a quad injury while chasing opponent Mitch Georgiades desperately in the third quarter, ending his day. 

Port also lost ninth-gamer Josh Lai to a head knock after he was collected by teammate Esava Ratugolea in friendly fire, with the Power bruised and battered by the final siren but able to celebrate.

Ratugolea and sidekick Aliir Aliir were terrific in defence, while star midfielder Zak Butters (27 disposals and seven clearances) battled through a tag from Brady Hough to have an influence. Horne-Francis proved the difference with three goals.

There might have been early concerns that Port Adelaide was flat after its week off when stopper Hough snapped the opening goal one minute in, but Josh Carr's team quickly adjusted to the Eagles’ pressure and started to win the contest battle.

Their tall defenders got to work and began to dominate the game, with Aliir and Ratugolea combining for 10 intercepts in the opening quarter and setting up repeated scoring chains as Tom Cochrane, Christian Moraes and Joe Berry capitalised.  

The visitors were inaccurate, however, and only led by six points at quarter-time, despite largely controlling the game and generating nine scoring shots to three.

West Coast continued to feed Port's turnover game with poor skills in the second term, falling 19 points behind as the Power grew in confidence following goals for Horne-Francis and Todd Marshall.

Elliot Yeo was sent behind the ball to try and halt Port Adelaide’s momentum, while Waterman stood up to kick a crucial goal and Willem Duursma grew in influence with 10 disposals for the quarter.

In one crucial passage, Tom Cole marked at half forward and had options ahead of him to move the ball quickly inside 50, but play was halted to allow Jacob Wehr to gather himself after the contest, despite no apparent injury.

The moment was lost and the Power won possession and whisked the ball the length of the ground for Berry to kick his second goal, with Waterman cutting the half-time margin to 11 points with a late goal.

Port threatened to charge away in the third quarter, but the Eagles kept finding goals at crucial times to stay in the game. The loss of Ginbey was a massive blow, however, with the All-Australian contender limping off after a desperate chase to the goalline.  

Port built a 22-point lead deep in the quarter after goals for Horne-Francis and Jordon Sweet, and might have broken the Eagles if another late effort from Sweet wasn't touched by Tylar Young.

The game remained alive, however, after redeployed forward Cole kicked a terrific goal on the run from 45m, giving the Eagles momentum before they attempted to chase down the Power in a thrilling final quarter.  

West Coast remains in WA and will be the 'away' side against North Melbourne at Optus Stadium in round 14 next Saturday.

WEST COAST            3.0   5.2   8.5   10.11 (71)
PORT ADELAIDE      3.6   6.7   10.9   11.11 (77)

GOALS
West Coast: Waterman 3, Cole 2, Allan, Duursma, Hough, Shanahan, Yeo
Port Adelaide: Horne-Francis 3, Berry 2, Cochrane, Durdin, Georgiades, Marshall, Moraes, Sweet

BEST
West Coast: McCarthy, Waterman, Kelly, Cole, Reid, Duursma, Yeo 
Port Adelaide: Aliir, Horne-Francis, Sweet, Ratugolea, Butters, Richards

INJURIES
West Coast: Ginbey (quad)
Port Adelaide: Lai (head knock)  

Crowd: 47,479 at Optus Stadium