North Melbourne have hung on to beat the Melbourne Demons at the MCG by fourteen points, recording their third win of the season.
It was the sixteenth consecutive win that North have recorded over the Demons, the longest active streak in the competition.
The Kangaroos jumped out of the blocks to dominate the first quarter, and led by 28 points at the first change.
But the Demons stepped up their intensity and aggression to have the better of what was a spiteful second term, closing the margin to just two points.
The first half was a scrappy and often spiteful affair, with a number of incidents that are likely to be looked at by the match review panel during the week.
The third quarter was very much like the first, with the Kangaroos completely dominating territory and forcing the Demons to turn the ball over repeatedly trying to clear from the backline.
Still, the Melbourne defence did enough to keep the game close, with North not able to push the margin out past four goals at three-quarter time.
North have lost several games already this season after holding decent leads, and that appeared to be on the cards again this afternoon, as Melbourne started the final term on fire, closing the margin to just two points with half the term still to play.
But this time the Kangaroos steadied. Taylor Garner and Mason Wood kicked valuable goals to push the margin back out to more than two kicks, and with both sides looking fatigued the Demons never really threatened to bridge that gap late.
North were able to control the ball in the final moments to finish with a fourteen point lead.
It wasn’t really a game for standout individuals, but it was the tough inside midfielders who seemed to be the most influential.
Ben Cunnington appeared to be just about out of the game with a lower leg injury early, but had a major influence at key times. He’s one of a number of players that might get in the sights of the Match Review Panel, however.
Jack Ziebell was also very good for the Roos, as was Kayne Turner. Ben Brown was the dominant forward of the game with five goals, while Mason Wood also contributed three.
Shaun Higgins had an odd game, having a fair amount of influence but missing some gettable chances, and copping a lot of physical attention from the Melbourne defenders, possibly in response to an early hit on Clayton Oliver.
For the Demons, that man Oliver, Jack Viney, and Nathan Jones were all busy, but arguably not very effective with their disposals. Michael Hibberd off half back had plenty of good touches.
In Jesse Hogan’s absence Melbourne struggled to find a consistent forward target. Mitch Hannan kicked three, all in the second term. Jack Watts and Jeff Garlett had quiet days, while Tomas Bugg missed several good chances at important moments.
This will be a frustrating loss for the Demons after such a big win last week, but they really only have themselves to blame after poor efforts in the first and third quarters, allowing the Roos to dominate long stretches of the game. They played with plenty of intensity at times, but they have to sustain that over the whole game.
Melbourne fall out of the eight after yet another close loss, their win-loss record falling to 4-5.
The Roos finally hold onto win a close one, and more importantly they bring themselves a win closer to the top eight, with finals still a realistic possibility for this team that lost their first five games of the year.
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