A NINE-goal last quarter has propelled North Melbourne to a thrilling come-from-behind 13-point win over the Western Bulldogs in their NAB Challenge match at Eureka Stadium in Ballarat on Saturday afternoon.
The Kangaroos trailed by 28 points late in the third term, but were dragged back into the contest by the brilliance of small forward Lindsay Thomas, who finished with six goals.
The win came despite the Kangaroos losing Matt Campbell (hamstring strain), Sam Wright (concussion) and Brady Rawlings (hamstring tightness) to injuries, while Aaron Edwards played out the game but was troubled by a corked thigh.
"I thought it was just a great effort and an example of mental toughness," North Melbourne coach Brad Scott said after the game.
"You would think at three-quarter time we were going to get overrun, but the players stood up," Scott said. "The Bulldogs had about 155 interchanges and we had 88.
"The Bulldogs took Barry Hall off, they experimented. They probably could have put the foot on our throat if they'd really wanted to, but still our guys had to run it out and they did."
Ballarat boy Drew Petrie was another outstanding contributor for the winners. He booted four goals and posed a threat in the air whenever his team went forward.
However, Petrie is among the North Melbourne stars - ruckman Hamish McIntosh and midfielder Ryan Bastinac are two others - who are out of contention for the club's meeting with West Coast in round one of the home and away season.
"I'd do anything to have him available in two weeks' time," Scott said. "He really found some form today. We'll really freshen him up now. He's got three weeks to get ready.
"I think the forward structure looked good. We deliberately didn't play Lachy Hansen because we had to prepare for that forward line with only one key forward. Lachy will come in and play Drew's role in round one."
While Petrie will be sidelined for just one match due to suspension, Campbell's hamstring strain could keep him out of the line-up for up to a month.
He went down while chasing Easton Wood just a minute before half-time, and was carried to the change rooms by two trainers.
For the Bulldogs, Matthew Boyd, Shaun Higgins and Ryan Griffen all found plenty of the ball in the midfield, while Adam Cooney kicked four goals and Jarrad Grant three.
But coach Rodney Eade was far from happy with the late fade-out.
"Gee, it was poor, wasn't it?" Eade said. "I'll probably have to look at the tape to see what happened.
"I thought our defenders were poor all day. We really never got going as a team until the third quarter, which I was pleased with. We got a bit of a break but in the last quarter it seemed we just relaxed.
"So there's some things to work on and we've still got a couple of weeks to get things right."
The form of Cooney was a rare bright spot in Eade's day.
"We didn't have many good players but I thought Adam was one that actually showed a bit," he said.
"It was pleasing for him to get through and for him to have a few touches was a plus."
NORTH MELBOURNE 5.2 8.6 9.8 18.10 (118)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 6.2 9.4 13.6 16.9 (105)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Thomas 6, Petrie 4, Adams 2, McKinley, Swallow, Urquart, Adams, Thompson, Anthony
Western Bulldogs: Cooney 4, Grant 3, Hill 2, Jones 2, Higgins, Hall, Picken, Minson, Djerrkura
BEST
North Melbourne: Thomas, Petrie, Harvey, Anthony, L. Delaney, McMahon, Goldstein
Western Bulldogs: Boyd, Higgins, Griffen, Picken, Hudson, Williams, Wood, Djkerrura
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Campbell (hamstring)
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Reports: Nil
Official crowd: 7000 approx at Eureka Stadium, Ballarat
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL