It was a heartbreaking finish for North Melbourne's VFLW side on Saturday afternoon as they fell to competition leaders Geelong by six points at the death.

After a tight, four-quarter tussle between the two clubs, an Olivia Cicolini goal for Cats just seconds before the final siren was the difference in the 3.4 (22) to 3.10 (28) finish.

Pressuring the Cats at every turn, the Kangaroos gained the upper-hand in the first term, with recruit Ruby Tripodi slotting her first goal in blue and white and Emily Paterno following up minutes later with a snap of her own.

"We started really strongly, we were winning the contested ball, were able to get it on the outside and really go hard forwards from the contest," VFLW coach Steph Binder told NMFC Media.

"From there things started to slow down. We were able to absorb a lot of pressure in the second quarter but we knew going into the second half that absorbing pressure wasn’t going to get us the win.

"We wanted to get back to that attacking game going forward from contest but that didn’t work out for us and as soon Geelong got on top of the clearances and contested ball, it was just too hard for us to score."

KANGAROOS v CATS Full match coverage and stats

The Cats began to pepper their goalface after the first change but it was Jess Mourney who broke through for North Melbourne's third of the afternoon at the opposite end.

At the 15th minute mark of the second quarter, Breanna Pratt responded to Mourney's goal with Geelong's first of the day as her side began to assert itself.

A late, third-quarter goal from Cicolini saw the Cats draw back to within two points of the Kangaroos, and they proceeded to keep the home side scoreless in the final term.

In their VFLW debuts, youngsters Georgia Clark and Grace White had some promising moments. A quick-thinking Clark helped setup Paterno for North Melbourne's second goal of the day while White was able to rein in a couple of impressive grabs inside defensive 50.

"It was good to get those girls (Clark and White) from the Tassie Devils in the Coates Talent League to play for us," Binder said.

"Georgia was a great presence up forward, she was really strong in the aerial contest which is really good because we struggle for height and aerial presence ... she slotted in really nicely.

"In a backline under the pump, Grace had a few nice moments coming across and helping impact in the air ... tough job for her but they both did really well on debut."

AFLW-listed defender Cassidy Mailer collected 11 touches in her return to action, while Taylah Gatt was again damaging on the wing using her speed to great effect.

NORTH MELBOURNE     2.1    3.2    3.4    3.4  (22)
GEELONG        0.2    1.7     2.8    3.10  (28)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Paterno, Tripodi, Mourney
Geelong: Cicolini 2, Pratt

BEST
North Melbourne: Gatt, Jones, McDonald, Paterno

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil