WESTERN BULLDOGS 6.4 10.8 13.14 15.17 (107)
NORTH MELBOURNE 3.4 7.5 12.7 16.10 (106)
Goals: Western Bulldogs: Picken 3, Dale 2, Redpath 2, Wood, Stringer, Dahlhaus, Hunter, Bontempelli, Suckling, Wallis, Campbell. North Melbourne: Waite 3, Brown 2, Cunnington 2, Daw 2, Wood 2, MacMillan, Hrovat, Clarke, Garner, Goldstein.
Best: Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Stringer, Picken, Campbell, Macrae, Hunter, Wood. North Melbourne: Cunnington, Waite, Brown, Higgins, Swallow.
Umpires: Chris Donlon, Robert Findlay, Robert O'Gorman.
Crowd: 28,263 at Etihad Stadium.
Even in this season of madness, it was hard to believe anything could compare with the chaos of Friday night's SCG cliffhanger between Sydney and Essendon.
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Dogs sneak past Roos by one point
The Western Bulldogs put a horror month behind them with a one-point last minute win of the Kangaroos at Etihad Stadium.
But the conclusion to Saturday night's clash between the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne just about topped it.
The reigning premiers had seemingly shrugged off a stubborn but inferior Roos outfit when Matthew Suckling goaled to extend the Dogs' lead to 26 points at the 11-minute mark of the final term. But the Roos, and in particular Ben Cunnington had other ideas. Cunnington had 12 final quarter touches including two goals as North came from the clouds to all but do what had been done to them several times earlier this year.
Ben Brown looked to have put North ahead deep in the final term with what appeared to be his third goal of the night, only for a free kick to be paid against teammate Mason Wood for an illegal shepherd. And so after Shaun Higgins missed a snap for the Roos, the Dogs went down the other end, where Jake Stringer ended an eventful week by kicking a match-winning behind at the 30-minute mark, with the Dogs hanging on from there to win by the narrowest of margins.
The victory put the Dogs back in the top eight, dislodging Sydney, the side they beat in last year's grand final.
It was not a vintage performance from Luke Beveridge's side, but after four losses in five weeks, not to mention a dramatic seven days featuring a season-ending knee injury to Lin Jong, denials of a falling out between Stringer and Jason Johannisen, and the public mental health battle of Travis Cloke, four points were going to be welcomed regardless of how they came.
While not as spectacular as some of their football late last season, Liam Picken and Marcus Bontempelli both brought back memories of their finals heroics, giving hope that there is more to come for the Dogs this year, especially with the impending return of skipper Bob Murphy and grand final star Tom Boyd.
The first half brought refreshing change for both sides. North, having overused and butchered the ball eight days earlier against St Kilda, employed a more direct style to give tall targets Brown, Majak Daw and Jarrad Waite the best opportunity. It worked to an extent, with the Roos' 7.5 to half-time comfortably their highest first-half score against a Beveridge-coached Dogs.
The problem was that the Dogs' too had finally found their mojo, putting through 10 goals of their own to take a 21-point lead to the long break. Like the Roos, Beveridge's men had also taken the game on, but unlike North, the Dogs not only had style, but substance too. They were well ahead in contested possessions, tackles, clearances and inside 50s, so while Brad Scott's apparent fury with some of the umpiring was clear, his beef should have been with his players.
North had started well enough. After another week in the news, Johannisen was again targeted, and again didn't look all that ready for the attention. This time it was Taylor Garner given the job of nullifying the Dogs speedster, and Garner's job couldn't have started much better as he slotted the game's opening goal, a fact which his teammates were all too keen to remind Norm Smith medallist Johannisen.
But while Johannisen was far dominant, Garner faded from the game. It was symbolic of a North side that looked to be providing nuisance value, but didn't seem likely to take the points, especially with Bontempelli edging closer to his best form, and the buzzing Stringer repeatedly causing problems.
There had been moments when it looked like North might fold, but to the contrary they continued to attack with verve, and kicked three of the first four goals after the resumption. So while the Dogs widened their lead in the contested ball stakes, they missed chances in front of goal. The Roos persevered, bringing the margin back to just 13 points with a quarter to play. It might have been even closer had the unknowing Shaun Higgins not been run down from behind by Stringer following a play-on call.
Votes
M. Bontempelli (WB) 8
J. Stringer (WB) 8
B. Cunnington (NM) 8
L. Picken (WB) 7
T. Campbell (WB) 7
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