Australian Football

Match Report

In a see-sawing and at time spiteful encounter, North Melbourne has continued its season revival, defeating Melbourne in tense circumstances at the MCG on Sunday. The Kangaroos broke away to an early lead and then withstood several challenges from the Demons, before finally sneaking home by 14 points in a game that hung in the balance until Luke McDonald kicked a sealing goal at the 26-minute mark of the final quarter.

Behinds were the order of the day in the early part of the match, with Mason Wood scoring two for North and then the Demons registering three before Ben Brown broke through for the first goal of the match with an easy one from the goal-square at the six-minute mark. They added another through Ben Cunnington and a third at the 11-minute mark when Brown marked and kicked his second.

The Demons got on the board with a quick response from Cam Pedersen but North was again three goals clear when skipper Jack Ziebell kicked his first midway through the term. Melbourne cut the margin back to 12 when its own captain Nathan Jones goaled at the 18-minute mark but two more majors to the Kangaroos - one each to Marley Williams and Wood - had them ahead by 26 points at quarter time.

A complete change of momentum accompanied the start of the second term and Melbourne put three goals on the board within the first 10 minutes - two to Mitch Hannan and one to Jack Viney - to cut the margin to 14 points. The Roos steadied in the middle of the quarter with goals to Wood and Shaun Higgins but another three in a row from the Demons - through Hannan once more, followed by Pedersen and Sam Frost - saw the half-time margin at just two points, North with its nose in front.

A break and another change of ends brought another change in momentum. It swung dramatically in North's favour in the first half of the third quarter as the Kangaroos added 3.4, the goals going to Taylor Garner and Brown (twice), to jump to a 24-point lead. The Demons finally scored when Neville Jetta goaled at the 19-minute mark, but Brown's third of the term had North back out to a four-goal lead, with Tomas Bugg adding two late behinds to Melbourne to cut the margin back to 22 at 'orange' time.

Almost predictably, the momentum changed again when the final quarter began. Christiam Salem goaled for Melbourne after two minutes and the Demons added two more over the next 12 minutes through Clayton Oliver and Jordan Lewis to draw within two points. Garner provided a buffer for the Roos with his second goal at the 16-minute mark and looked home when Wood followed up with his third but Dean Kent goaled at the 25-minute mark to cut the deficit back to eight and give the Demons hope. Finally, Luke McDonald received a handball from Kayne Turner and snapped truly and North Melbourne held on to record a narrow but important win.

Brown (five goals, six marks) and Cunnington (26 touches and a goal) played great games for North, while Jones (26 possessions, one goal) and Michael Hibberd (33 disposals, sox marks) were excellent for the Demons.

The result lifted the Kangaroos from 16th to 14th on the ladder, while Melbourne slippers from 10th to 11th. North will take on 16th place Carton at Docklands on Sunday and Melbourne will travel to Alice Springs 'host' the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday afternoon.

GOALS
Melbourne: Hannan 3; Pedersen 2; Jones, Viney, Frost, Jetta, Oliver, Salem, Lewis, Kent
North Melbourne: Brown 5; Wood 3; Garner 2; Cunnington, Ziebell, Williams, Higgins, McDonald

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Melbourne: Hibberd, Tyson, T. McDonald, Jones, Hannan
North Melbourne: Brown, Cunnington, Turner, Goldstein, Thompson, Tarrant

BEST - THE AGE
Melbourne: Jones, Hibberd, Hannan, Tyson, Lewis, Viney, Hunt, Oliver
North Melbourne: Cunnington, Brown, Tarrant, Thompson, Garner, Hrovat, Ziebell

INJURIES
Melbourne:
North Melbourne: Cunnington (right ankle/knee)

UMPIRES: Nicholls, Hosking, Hay

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Brian Taylor, Hamish McLachlan, Leigh Matthews, Nick Riewoldt, Jimmy Bartel