North Melbourne's VFLW side has fallen to Collingwood by 10 points on Sunday afternoon, despite a spirited fourth-quarter effort.

The Roos trailed by 39 points at the final change, but kicked five straight goals while holding the Pies to a solitary behind to put the home side's lead under pressure in the fourth quarter.

It wasn't to be for the visitors though, who had left themselves with too big of a mountain to climb heading into the final 20 minutes.

"The first three quarters were pretty disappointing, we just weren't playing our Roos way of football," VFLW coach Steph Binder told NMFC Media post-game.

"We got lost out on the ground a bit ... we were giving up too much length but as soon as we started playing our brand things started happening - we just left our run too late."

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Striving for back-to-back wins for the first time since the season's opening fortnight, the Roos struggled to match Collingwood's intensity early, with the home side quickly gaining control at the contest.

Led by the in-form player of the competition Jess Bates, the Pies managed to create a solid buffer off their strong clearance work as they took a 20-point advantage into half-time, with the Roos standing goalless.

Collingwood continued to assert themselves in the second half, extending their lead through Monique De Matteo and Matilda Zander before North Melbourne midfielder Audrey Rhodes finally broke through on the scoreboard as time expired in the third term.

And it was a determined Rhodes who lit the fuse at the beginning of the final quarter, working in tandem with captain Jess Jones (21 disposals, 21 hitouts, five marks) to get the Roos firing.

Rhodes (18 disposals, 11 tackles, two goals) slotted a close-range attempt on goal to kickstart the fourth-term flurry - which featured two goals each from forwards Sophia McCarthy and Emily Paterno - but the Pies had done enough to clinch the four points.

"Soph (McCarthy) stood up really tall for us, particularly in the last quarter when we were actually able to get the ball into our forward 50," Binder said.

"She took a couple of really important marks and kicked a pair of big goals (in that final term), so hopefully we can utilise her from the start next week because I can see her being a real game-changer for us."

The loss leaves North Melbourne one win out from the top six with a date against Casey next on the agenda.

"A big part of the Demons is their ground, there's always a really strong wind (at Casey) pushing right across the face so we just need to be smart with the footy," Binder mentioned.

"Casey normally plays a fast brand so if we can play the conditions well and take away its quick movement then we should have a red-hot crack at picking up the win."

COLLINGWOOD           2.3    3.5     7.6    7.7 (49)     
NORTH MELBOURNE    0.2    0.3    1.3    6.3 (39)     

GOALS
Collingwood: De Matteo 2, Bates 2, Zander, King, Dojiok
North Melbourne: Rhodes 2, McCarthy 2, Paterno 2

BEST  
North Melbourne: Rhodes, Jones, McDonald, McCarthy, Paterno