Fremantle inflicted further misery upon Adelaide and its coach Gary Ayres with a nine-point victory at Subiaco Oval in an AFL clash punctuated by skill errors and poor decisions.

Both teams were well below par but the Dockers' 10.13 (73) to 8.16 (64) victory means Adelaide remain winless after three rounds.

Further compounding the Crows' woes, Rhett Biglands was reported for the second time in three weeks and looks likely to be suspended after a crude challenge on Graham Polak.

Biglands was lucky to escape punishment for striking the Kangaroos' Drew Petrie in round one but he is unlikely to again avoid censure after a leading elbow knocked Polak unconscious in the fourth quarter.

But for a coach who had top-four hopes in the pre-season, Ayres was remaining surprisingly upbeat after the game.

"I think we put them under a fair bit of pressure and I don't think Fremantle really for any great lengths of time were able to get their offensive game going, especially across half-back," he said.

"I think we made them earn the win.

"It's obviously not looking all that flash being zero-three but at least I think we competed in a genuine manner which put Fremantle under enough pressure for us to be in the game from basically start to finish."

The match resembled two teams that could have been fighting to avoid the wooden-spoon rather than two that enjoyed September action last year and have finals aspirations in 2004.

The home side looked more like the 'Shockers' of old than a team with top-four hopes, particularly in the first half, enjoying far more of the ball but constantly turning it over.

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