North Melbourne forward Mason Wood has capped a brilliant return to senior footy with a four-goal performance in his side's thrilling two-point win over Sydney at the SCG on Saturday night.
Wood booted the opening goal of the match but saved his best for the final term, when his outstanding solo effort put the Kangaroos in front almost 29 minutes into the quarter.
The Swans had chances to steal it but Tom Papley pushed his set shot wide with just over a minute left to play, and Dane Rampe failed to score with another opportunity with 34 seconds on the clock.
North held on bravely for a 9.14 (68) to 9.12 (66) victory to hand the Swans their third loss at home this season.
Wood took nine marks, four of those contested, and kicked his four important majors from 18 possessions.
Shaun Higgins was electric for the visitors with 32 possessions, five clearances and a goal, while Ben Jacobs finished with 29 touches and nine tackles, and Ben Cunnington and Jed Anderson gathered 24 apiece.
Sydney captain Josh Kennedy picked up 31 disposals and had nine clearances and nine tackles, while Will Hayward was his side's most effective forward with three goals, and Rampe did well to keep Ben Brown to a solitary major.
Higgins began the match in brilliant fashion and his 12 first-quarter touches helped the Kangaroos establish a clear advantage at stoppages, and Jacobs, Trent Dumont and Anderson also found plenty of the footy.
Brown's first gave the Kangaroos a 14-point break early in the second term but when Kennedy started to have more of an influence in the second quarter, the Swans answered with two in a row to Hayward and Robbie Fox.
Sydney dominated the clearances 12-3 for the quarter but a terrible attempted pass from Sinclair deep in defence hit North youngster Jy Simpkin on the chest and he steadied his side going into half-time.
In a lacklustre third term both sides blew some simple chances in front of goal, and another poor turnover from the Swans inside North's defensive 50, this time by McVeigh, handed Cunnington the chance and he gave his team the buffer they were after.
Hayward sparked his side just over a minute into the final quarter with a strong contested mark and goal, and just as they did last week against Geelong, the Swans took control of the centre square.
Zak Jones and Jake Lloyd both put the Swans in front late in the term but on both occasions it was Wood who countered, and his fourth won the game for the vistors.
MEDICAL ROOM
North Melbourne: Ed Vickers-Willis (right knee) was helped from the field in the final term when he crashed heavily into the goalpost, and he didn't come back on.
NEXT UP
The Roos get an eight-day break before taking on Richmond at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
SYDNEY 2.1 4.4 6.8 9.12 (66)
NORTH MELBOURNE 3.3 5.5 7.10 9.14 (68)
GOALS
Sydney: Hayward 3, Sinclair, Towers, Fox, Parker, Jones, Lloyd
North Melbourne: Wood 4, Hartung, Higgins, Brown, Simpkin, Cunnington
BEST
Sydney: Kennedy, Sinclair, Hayward, McVeigh, Grundy, Jack
North Melbourne: Higgins, Jacobs, Wood, Wright, Cunnington, Anderson
INJURIES
Sydney: TBC
North Melbourne: Vickers-Willis (knee)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Gavine, Nicholls, Findlay
Official crowd: 29,124 at the SCG
