A frenetic game from start to finish on Saturday night resulted in a narrow North Melbourne loss, with clearances playing a large role in the final result.

Brad Scott used the word ‘slaughtered’ in his post-match media conference to describe Port Adelaide’s advantage from centre bounces and the Power did indeed hold a significant advantage from the middle.

On the surface, the stoppage statistics show that both Port and North scored four goals from centre bounces. However the sheer weight of extra clearances from the visiting team resulted in extra pressure.

It was the first in a series of minor advantages that built up over time to ultimately decide the match. From Port’s 21 centre clearances, 16 ended inside its forward 50.

The extra inside 50’s allowed Port to spend more time in its forward half and in turn put more pressure on North’s defence.

Although Port only had three more total inside 50’s (56-53), the visitors spent almost seven more minutes in the forward half of the ground. As a point of comparison, in 2014 only one team, coincidentally, the Power, averaged more than six additional minutes per game.

For most of the night, the Kangaroos played largely on the counter, spending almost three minutes less in possession than the Power - a significant number.

Interestingly enough, the home side’s best quarter of the night, six goals and nine total scoring shots in the third, came from just 11 inside 50’s.

One of the main storylines of the night was how North coped with the early loss of Jack Ziebell and knocks to several players to go with the top-line stars already missing.

Arguably without Nick Dal Santo, Daniel Wells, Jamie Macmillan, Ziebell, Nathan Grima, Aaron Mullett and Lachlan Hansen from its best 22, North was able to start quarters strongly before fading late.

It perhaps helps to explain why the game was increasingly played through the middle of the ground during the evening.

The game became more and more open and the flanks were largely ignored, as the numbers showed.

Considering the narrow dimensions of Simonds Stadium (only 115m wide) and the propensity for visiting teams to get stuck playing around the boundary, North’s use through the middle of the ground could inadvertently become preparation for Round 4 against the Cats this Sunday.