The Western Bulldogs have again found a way to win under pressure, while North Melbourne are 0-4 to start the AFL season after a gripping inaugural Good Friday clash.
The reigning premiers trailed by 29 points in the third quarter at Etihad Stadium but lifted in a tense final term to snatch a three-point victory.
Down by 10 points late in the game, skipper Jack Ziebell’s crumbing goal put the Kangaroos within striking distance.
They continued to press their case but lost momentum when Scott Thompson was pinged for a contentious deliberate out-of-bounds call.
Minutes later, Lindsay Thomas had a chance to kick the winning goal in his 200th game but his shot from 50m out went wide and the Bulldogs held on for a 12.17 (89) to 12.14 (86) victory.
Much like their narrow wins over Collingwood and Sydney, the Dogs’ stars stood up when the heat was on.
Tom Liberatore, Jake Stringer and Matthew Suckling all kicked important goals in the final term, but it was Luke Dahlhaus who turned the game in the Bulldogs’ favour in front of a crowd of 42,814.
The tough midfielder was typically prolific at the stoppages, finishing with 32 disposals, and booted clutch goals either side of three-quarter time to put the Dogs ahead.
Lin Jong and Bob Murphy were also key contributors, providing important run-and-carry out of the backline.
“From a dig deep, persistence point of view … in that regard, we were outstanding, I thought,” Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said.
“Things weren’t on our terms most of the night and – in that third quarter, when you think that maybe it was going south – once again our boys dug deep and found a way.”
The Kangaroos were again unable to capitalise on a competitive effort to be 0-4 after four rounds.
While they fought hard in the middle, led by Ziebell and Shaun Higgins, coach Brad Scott admitted his side had lacked polish.
“I thought the hunger and fight was fantastic,” he said.
“They really had a lot of belief that we could get over the line and that’s really promising. There were some rookie errors made by a bit of a rookie team so we’ve got to spend some time fixing that.”
The Easter milestone match was shaping to be a low-scoring affair before North went on a third-quarter run, sparked by Ben Brown booting two of his four goals.
But the Roos struggled to keep their momentum going and were outclassed in the final term.
The Bulldogs will sweat on injuries to spearhead Travis Cloke and ruckman Tom Boyd.
Cloke was hospitalised after copping a heavy front-on bump from Jack Ziebell late in the game. There are fears he might have broken ribs.
Boyd copped a nasty head knock during a collision with Scott Thompson and did not return after showing delayed concussion symptoms.
Raimond
Roar Guru
The Kangaroos' 2017 season looks like a repeat of 2013: a heap of butchered games lost by single-figure margins.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Too true Roo re execution. It's not a crime to smash people either. Get 5 goals up and bang on another 5. It's way more fun. Though the umpires stopped North's momentum by not paying the free to Lindsay Thomas in the square. Though knowing Lin he probably would have missed everything. Nevertheless they should have won. Too many North fliers spoiling Brownie as well. Cunnington was brilliant.
mattyb
Guest
Yeah,I can agree with some of that Anon. It certainly is hard work for the Dogs to win and they are not the greatest side offensively. People do need to remember the dogs only finished 7th last year despite the fact they spent the majority of the season as premiership favourites,there were better teams out there. The doggies generally need to play at their very best and using the term 'red line' is a very good one indeed. I'm still confident in having the dogs as premiership favourites but they need to make sure they don't drop off at all,as it's a very even competition. I think the dogs are slightly better than middle of the road,but if they don't bring full intensity and pressure they could easily drop into that category.
Swanny
Guest
North Melbourne will be a top 6 next season . Some great young talent in the team Who do follow.?? For the record Smith hates maxwell or Lordy as u used to be called
SmithHatesMaxwell
Guest
Actually North's 8th straight loss. Lost 14 of their last 17 games. Bulldogs look middle of the road. If they win a lot of close games and get looked after by the umpires then they might squeeze into 4th position. It's always such hard work for the Bulldogs much like last season. They have to "red line" it to win. Still bad offensively just like last season.
mattyb
Guest
A good game of football to watch this one. Fast paced,high pressure and close. Scrappy at times with a few skill errors but you can't be greedy and expect it all on Good Friday of all days. The Kangas got the jump on the dogs and at half time there were a few worrying signs. Suckling for one can take being a shocking kick to a whole new level and Norths height was causing the Dogs some concerns. This wasn't helped with Tom Boyd being subbed out with concussion. The third quarter was the one to watch as the reigning premiers made the premiership quarter all there's. Dahlhaus was very good as was Macrae who really lifted in this quarter. Stringer always looked dangerous but was always not doing enough and fumbling in what was a strange game from him in this regard. In defence I thought Roberts was very solid and he's actually becoming a reasonably consistent defender. In the last quarter the momentum see sawed until the dogs eventually ran out winners. They are showing a good ability to win close games while showing they can still improve. I think the way the dogs are going it's hard to say exactly where they sit. I see signs they are going well,I can see signs they have a hangover and I see signs they are just one of many good teams in a strong competition. It would still be a brave man to say they aren't premiership favorites to go back to back. Votes. 5.Dahlhaus 4.Macrae 3.Roberts 2.Jong 1.McLean
RooBoy17
Guest
North fans should be happy with the effort tonight but filthy with the execution. I'm concerned though that another close loss will cause heads to drop...we really need to nail one very soon. But I like what I've seen from this young group and think North is heading in the right direction. No finals this year maybe, but 2018 looks promising once the youngsters have 20-30 games under their belts and perhaps a big signing as the final piece in the puzzle?