NORTH MELBOURNE
6.7 8.9 12.13 15.14 (104)
MELBOURNE
2.5 8.7 9.9 13.12 (90)
GOALS - North Melbourne: Brown 5, Wood 3, Garner 2, Cunnington, Ziebell, McDonald, M Williams, Higgins.
Melbourne: Hannan 3, Pedersen 2, Oliver, Salem, Kent, Lewis, Viney, Jetta, Jones, Frost.
BEST - North Melbourne: Cunnington, Brown, Tarrant, Thompson, Garner, Hrovat, Ziebell.
Melbourne: Jones, Hibberd, Hannan, Tyson, Lewis, Viney, Hunt, Oliver.
UMPIRES Hay, Nicholls, Hosking.
CROWD 33,218 at MCG.
Never win the toss and bowl. Never kick into the wind. Never back England in a World Cup. And never, but never, tip Melbourne to beat North Melbourne.
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Kangaroos hold off Demons
North Melbourne have notched their third win of the season, defeating Melbourne 104-90 at the MCG.
Well at least not until they prove they can do it again. The Demons last beat North in round 20, 2006. After leading Melbourne from start to bruising, spiteful finish, the Kangaroos have now extended it to 16 consecutive wins.
Melbourne thought this was the year for - pardon this pun - exorcising their demons, when they did what had been previously impossible and defeated St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.
Beating North remains a box to be ticked by this emerging Melbourne side that could have jumped five places on the ladder with a win.
North's run and link handball sieved through Melbourne's flat defence for all but the second term and patches of the final quarter
Like they did in their thumping win over Adelaide in Tasmania, North set the tone of the match in the opening term. They kicked six goals to two but with Mason Wood twice missing chances and Todd Goldstein and Jarrad Waite wasting set shots the Roos could have been ahead by ten goals at the first break. It felt like that kind of first term.
Still, against Adelaide last week Melbourne conceded a substantial lead early, and yet recovered to win when they changed gears and shuffled players around.
Melbourne came out in the second term re-set and determined to do several things differently. The first was to sit Shaun Higgins on his backside whenever they could. The next was to start fighting for the ball in the contest – something they had refused to do in the first term.
They were told to tackle - they were minus 21 for tackles in the fist term, which was indicative of the mindset that needed to change.
And finally to roll the dice forward of the ball.
Mitch Hannan had helped reshape the game against Adelaide and did so again in the second term against North, kicking three goals and playing a role in another two as Melbourne reeled the Kangaroos lead in to just three points at the last break.
The Demons were spirited and aggressive and looked to have arrested their first term lethargy. But it proved all so fleeting, when the third term returned to the first-term rhythm.
Ben Cunnington had gone off early with a twisted ankle and received treatment. He had been helped off and looked to be out for the day. He then came back on and was one of the best despite being plainly restricted.
North had Todd Goldstein in the ruck who dominated hitouts but North lost the clearances so the Demons would figure they had the better of the battle. Even though they lost the clearances North were better able to win the ball back through the middle and half-back then push through the corridor in waves linking up with overlap handball.
Then up forward North critically had what Melbourne didn't – a key forward able to take marks and kick goals.
Ben Brown was a presence throughout. He booted five goals but also brought other balls to ground to create options for others.
In contrast Melbourne was trying to fashion a forward line with Jesse Hogan out. The callow Sam Weideman and the defender turned forward Tom McDonald were lost in the forward line against Robbie Tarrant and Scott Thompson who were excellent in pushing high up the ground and intercept marking.
The Demons tried to trick up their forward line isolating Jack Watts and Clayton Oliver for periods but they could not unpick the avenue to goal.
Nathan Jones and Michael Hibberd gave the Demons run and aggression around the ball with Vince and Higgins brawling for most of the day with a close tag but North always found an answer when Melbourne pressed.
The Demons got back to within two points in the last quarter and appeared to be surging. Then they faltered. Tomas Bugg at the end of the third quarter and again early in the last missed several chances that would have given the Demons more belief.
Taylor Garner then Mason Wood – who missed several shots at goal in the first term – goaled to give the Roos breathing space. Luke McDonald's goal at the death made a certainty of the Roos third win. History demanded it be so.