North Melbourne's VFL side suffered a disheartening defeat to Sandringham on Sunday, going down to the Zebras by 34 points at Trevor Barker Beach Oval.

The Kangaroos were on the wrong side of a 36-point margin midway through the second term, but showed immense heart to fightback and lead early in the final quarter.

The Kangaroos forward group was in strong form across the contest, with the likes of Charlie Comben, Max Mitchell-Russell, Mat Walker and Zach Monkhorst all hitting the scoreboard to great effect in the contest, with Mitchell-Russell and Comben combining for four goals in the third term.

VFL senior coach Leigh Adams says strong work at the other end of the ground opened the game up for his forwards.

"When we got the ball in there we looked really dangerous, but in that third quarter in particular we were obviously able to get a few more entries and put their defence under a bit more pressure," Adams told North Media.

"We were able to switch the ball and then come back through the corridor and give our forwards opportunities, especially in that third quarter. Our contest work was better, we were able to nullify. them in the clearances a bit better and get a bit more spilled ball outside and go forward.

"Our defenders tightened up a little bit and we managed to enforce a turnover at centre half-back rather than on our last line which gave us more opportunity to get the ball inside 50.

"I think tightening up in all areas by about five per cent allowed us to play some good footy."

A nose injury to Marty Hore proved the catalyst for Sandringham's fourth-quarter blitz. The Zebras quickly kicked three majors in the defensive stalwart's absence and, despite Hore's return to the field, finished the game off with the final six goals.

The experienced presence in a defence chock-full of young AFL-listed talent, Hore's ability to lead the side's young defenders has proved crucial to the Kangaroos' fortunes so far this VFL season.

While Hore was missed in the heart of backline for much of the fourth quarter, Adams says the defensive general wasn't the only leader to come off with a knock at a crucial time.

"Marty came off with that nose at about the same time 'Stevo' (Jaidyn Stephenson) came off with a corky so two of our prime movers going off at the same wasn't ideal, especially at that point in the game," Adams said.

"He (Hore) had a really good game today and he's really good at setting our defenders up behind the footy and taking control of our shape back there. His nose was gushing a bit of blood so we had to take care of that.

"I just thought we ran out of legs at the end there since we'd had to work so hard to get back into the game. We just went with the mentality of we might as well lose by five goals when we're trying to win rather than lose by three by trying to hold back."

North's AFL senior coach, David Noble, has recently tasked some of the club's big names to return to the VFL and gain some intensity before returning to the AFL side. Jaidyn Stephenson is one of those names.

Returning to reserve level for the second time this season, Stephenson was a strong influence on proceedings across both the midfield and forward lines. He finished with 23 disposals, five tackles and four clearances.

"'Stevo' started a bit quietly but we were happy with the way he managed to work himself into the game. It was a pretty contested game today which isn't necessarily his strongest suit but he was clean and he looked pretty dangerous at times," Adams said.

"When guys like him drop down that level they get a bit of extra attention - I think he had someone running with him whether he was forward or mid. He had to work had to have an influence and I thought he did that for most of the day."

Co-captain Kade Answerth was strong in the midfield with 12 tackles, while Atu Bosenavulagi provided dangerous run and carry out of the back line with 19 touches, six marks and five tackles.

The Kangaroos continue their VFL campaign at Arden Street on Sunday where they take on the Box Hill Hawks.

SANDRINGHAM ZEBRAS     5.0     8.4     10.8     16.10     (106) 
NORTH MELBOURNE           2.3     5.5     10.6     11.6     (72)

AFL-listed players:

Jackson Archer - Six disposals, three marks, four tackles
Atu Bosenavulagi - 19 disposals, six marks, five tackles
Charlie Comben - 10 disposals, three goals, five marks
Josh Goater - Nine disposals, two marks
Charlie Lazzaro - 19 disposals, five tackles, three clearances
Matt McGuinness - 25 disposals, 11 marks, three tackles
Jaidyn Stephenson - 23 disposals, five tackles, four clearances

Best of VFL-listed players:

Kade Answerth - 18 disposals, 12 tackles, three clearances
Marty Hore - 21 disposals, nine marks, two tackles
Max Mitchell-Russell - Eight disposals, three marks, two goals
Zach Monkhorst - Nine disposals, six tackles, two goals
Dom Tyson - 25 disposals, seven clearances, one goal
Mat Walker - Seven disposals, four marks, two goals