The Saints won 15.13 (103) to 9.3 (57) despite trailing by 29 points in the first quarter, after putting together an 11-goals-to-two second half.
The win sees the boys from Moorabbin enter the split round undefeated, and having accomplished something no other St Kilda side has in the history of the club.
The closest the Saints had previously come was back in 2004, when they won the first 10 rounds of the season.
The young Kangaroos side, with 10 players under the age of 23, was brave against the ladder-leaders and led until midway through the third term.
But losing two players to injury in the second quarter – Ben Warren (fractured cheekbone) and Sam Power (concussion) – compromised their rotations and they couldn't keep up following the main break.
The Roos played out the final minutes of the match with just 17 players on the field.
Justin Koschitzke ended with six goals after getting away from Scott Thompson, and Lenny Hayes improved for 32 touches while Jason Gram was instrumental in the match-deciding third term.
Max Hudghton also got through his first game for the year with 11 touches.
The Kangaroos came out with a determination to match their opponent in hardness, and their ferocity paid off as they became the second team this season to keep the Saints to one first-term goal.
For their part, the Roos kicked their biggest opening-quarter score since their round-seven win over Port Adelaide.
Fine starts to Adam Simpson and Brady Rawlings gained the Roos ascendancy as they kept Hayes and Nick Dal Santo to nine possessions between them. Luke Ball also couldn't get near it and ended the term with four disposals.
Hayes had one kick for the term and Dal Santo had just four touches, and while the latter kicked the Saints' only goal for the term, it came largely through a chain of free kicks.
The Roos' young backmen, especially Thompson and Scott McMahon, were terrific early on. Thompson had the better of Koschitzke while clearing the ball effectively, while McMahon gathered plenty of the ball.
North entered the second term with a 22-point lead, and Drew Petrie added to that three minutes in when he became the side's sixth individual goal-kicker with an off-the-ground major in the goal square.
The Saints retaliated and got the next one through Adam Schneider, but Warren clawed one back for the Roos and gave them a 27-point lead for the second time.
Gram lifted his side with 11 second-term possessions and three inside-50s, while Brendon Goddard moved to full forward to give the Saints an alternative structure.
Koschitzke got the next goal after Leigh Harding turned the ball over, but then shanked another shot after making in front of Thompson. Schneider's second at the 19-minute mark got the Saints within two goals for the first time since early in the first term.
North held a 13-point lead at the main break but were also two men down with a half to go.
The Saints had the first two opportunities to score after the main break but were inaccurate again with Koschitzke and Steven Baker registering points.
It took 12 minutes for the first goal to come, to the Roos' Andrew Swallow.
The Saints again pushed into their attacking half but were not consistently effective, with Nick Riewoldt kicking his first before sending a second set shot out on the full.
Koschitzke then took a soaring pack grab that resulted in the goal that drew the scores level, but Swallow wrenched the lead back the Roos' way with his second seven minutes later.
A late goal to Koschitzke gave the Saints their first lead of the day, before Gram stretched the lead just before three-quarter time.
From there, it was party time for the Saints as they kicked seven of the last eight goals.
North Melbourne 5.1 7.2 8.3 9.3 (57)
St Kilda 1.3 4.7 8.10 15.13 (103)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Swallow 2, Edwards, Ross, Simpson, Firrito, Petrie, Warren, Thomas
St Kilda: Koschitzke 6, Riewoldt 3, Schneider 2, Dal Santo, Jones, Gwilt, Gram
BEST
North Melbourne: Firrito, Gibson, Simpson, McIntosh, Harding
St Kilda: Koschitzke, Gram, Hayes, Dal Santo, Riewoldt, Ball, Montagna
INJURIES
North Melbourne: North Melbourne: Ziebell (illness) out, replaced in selected side by Edwards, Power (concussion), Warren (suspected broken cheekbone), Wright (knee), Simpson (calf), Pratt (calf), Wells (hip)
St Kilda: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Dalgleish, Wenn, Jeffery
Official crowd: 30,962 at Docklands
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or the clubs.
Vote for your best on ground now - Carlton Natural Blonde People’s Champion
