TELSTRA Dome has played host to its second draw in as many Sunday afternoons, with Sydney and North Melbourne level at full-time of a grippingly low-scoring round six clash in front of 28,392 spectators.
The final score was Sydney 8.16 (64) to North Melbourne's 9.10 (64), with Sydney having the last six scoring shots of the match but kicking just 2.4.
The Kangaroos looked to be home when they led by 17 points at the 18-minute mark of the final term, and with Sydney having managed just two goals since the six-minute mark of the second quarter, a Roos victory looked almost certain. But the Swans roared back after Michael O'Loughlin kicked two superb goals in as many minutes, but Sydney could never quite get over the line.
With the Kangaroos stopping to a walk, Sydney did almost all of the attacking in the last five minutes, with behinds by Ed Barlow, Ryan O'Keefe and Jarred Moore bringing Sydney back to within a single point before a Brett Kirk behind levelled the scores with a minute left, Michael Firrito's desperate lunge on the line to get a fingertip on the ball denying the Swans the lead. Against the run of play, the ball was deep inside North Melbourne's attacking 50-metre arc when the siren sounded, with the Kangaroos unable to get a genuine shot on goal in the frantic last few seconds.
Both teams now sit at 3-2 with a draw on the season.
Drew Petrie had 22 possessions and 12 marks for the Kangaroos, who got two goals from Nathan Thompson, David Hale and Corey Jones. Brent Harvey also had 22 touches, while veteran Shannon Grant was held to just six possessions, his first kick coming inside time-on in the last quarter.
For the Swans, who will be left to rue their inaccuracy in the dying stages, Kirk had 23 touches, while Adam Goodes had 21 and two goals, although his influence waned when Brady Rawlings was moved onto him after half time. O'Loughlin kicked three goals from limited opportunities.
Sydney had a staggering 81 more possessions than the Kangaroos (334-253).
After kicking just three goals in the first half, North Melbourne booted four in the third quarter, turning a six-point half time deficit into a five-point lead at the last change.
The lead changed hands five times in a quarter where only the Kangaroos could kick consecutive goals, which came to Matt Campbell after a minute and Leigh Harding at the 10-minute mark, the second of which gave the Roos their first lead. The advantage lasted all of a minute before O'Loughlin goalled from a set shot, giving the Swans a three-point lead.
Hale then broke a 10-minute stalemate with a goal to put the Roos back in front, but his major was immediately answered by Goodes, who kicked his second for the match while resting in the forward line. Goodes became just the second multiple goal-kicker in the match after 25 minutes had elapsed in the third term.
An unlikely snap by Hamish McIntosh restored North Melbourne's lead in the shadows of three-quarter time, with Sydney's Jude Bolton badly missing two set shots in the dying stages.
Sydney led by six points at half time, 4.7 (31) to 3.7 (25), after a scrappy first two quarters where miserly defence was the feature. North Melbourne's Thompson was the only man to provide a focal point for his team in the first half, kicking 2.2 with seven marks, five of them inside his attacking 50m arc opposed to Leo Barry.
The Swans led by 15 points, 3.5 (23) to 1.2 (8), at quarter-time.
Both sides went into the match as selected, but the Kangaroos suffered a blow in the last minute of the first half when Aaron Edwards had to be helped from the field with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury. He played no further part, with early indications suggesting that the high-leaping forward has broken his fibula.
North Melbourne 1.2 3.7 7.9 9.10 (64)
Sydney Swans 3.5 4.7 6.10 8.16 (64)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Thompson 2, Jones 2, Hale 2, Campbell, Harding, McIntosh
Sydney Swans: O’Loughlin 3, Goodes 2, Jolly, Bird, Davis
BEST
North Melbourne: Harvey, Firrito, Petrie, Rawlings, Simpson
Sydney Swans: Goodes, Kirk, O’Keefe, Bevan, O’Loughlin, Moore
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Edwards (ankle)
Sydney Swans: TBC
Reports: Nil
Umpires: McLaren, Ryan, Avon
Official crowd: 28,392 at Telstra Dome
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
