North Melbourne went down to reigning premiers Richmond by 10-points in a thrilling Mother’s Day encounter at Etihad Stadium.
The victory didn't come without a huge scare for the Tigers (7-1), who after leading by 20 points at half-time, had to withstand a furious challenge from the Kangas (4-4), who momentarily hit the front in the final term.
It was a highly entertaining affair and the Kangaroos showed great effort and pluck in front of a healthy Mother's Day crowd of 29,113.
The Tigers will be well pleased to get away with this one. North had the last nine inside 50s of the match but couldn't get the goal to really put the frighteners up the Tigers.
The home team did have the clear best player on the ground in midfielder Ben Cunnington, who had an all-time AFL record 32 contested possessions and 38 disposals overall.
Jed Anderson (28 disposals) and Luke McDonald (24) were prolific for North Melbourne, which will be disappointed not to have claimed the four points, but based on what was served up on Sunday, the Kangaroos are vastly improved on last season and would have lost no friends.
Richmond countered with skipper Trent Cotchin, who had 37 touches (22 contested) and was terrific in the clinches all day. He needed to be, because North stopper Ben Jacobs put the clamps on Dustin Martin, who had just 16 touches.
Martin was frustrated by Jacobs, but still played his role and when moved to the forward line in the last term he had a hand in goals to Cotchin, Dan Butler and Josh Caddy that helped wrest the ascendancy back Richmond's way.
Tiger coach Damian Hardwick was satisfied that his men again found something when challenged.
"When we were called upon at three-quarter time to rise to the challenge I thought our boys did really well. North came pretty hard in that third quarter and got some scoreboard ascendancy and got their nose in front at one stage as well," he said.
"Credit where credit's due, we challenged our boys once again and they lifted and got the result our way."
North coach Brad Scott felt mixed emotions: "We're disappointed we didn't get the result, but we didn't lose any self-belief at the same time.
"In a game like that, which is frenetic and with a lot of pressure, we would have liked to have a bit more polish, but the majority of footy is giving yourself a chance to win and we did that."
MEDICAL ROOM
North Melbourne: Jarrad Waite left the ground late in the game with a corked thigh and was unable to return.
Richmond: Jason Castagna suffered a knock to the knee, but was walking freely in the rooms afterwards.
NEXT UP
A six-day turnaround for North Melbourne and a quick trip to Hobart to host Greater Western Sydney at Blundstone Arena on Saturday afternoon.
NORTH MELBOURNE 2.0 5.2 9.3 11.6 (72)
RICHMOND 3.4 8.4 9.7 12.10 (82)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Atley 2, Wood 2, Brown 2, Waite 2, Simpkin, Higgins, Macmillan
Richmond: Caddy 4, Lambert 3, Riewoldt 2, Castagna, Cotchin, Butler
BEST
North Melbourne: Cunnington, Jacobs, Anderson, Higgins, Macmillan, Simpkin
Richmond: Cotchin, Caddy, Houli, Vlastuin, Lambert, Lloyd
