NORTH Melbourne has moved into fourth spot on the ladder for the first time this season, after notching up a sixth consecutive win with a 51-point result over Carlton at Telstra Dome on Sunday.

The Roos 22.9 (141) defeated the Blues 14.6 (90) in front of a record crowd of 43,406 between the two sides at the Dome. It was also North Melbourne's sixth win in a row over Carlton – its last loss coming against the Blues in round 16, 2004 at Princes Park.

The victory continued an outstanding second half of the season for North Melbourne, which has now won seven of its past eight, giving it 12-and-a-half wins for the season – clearly the second most in-form team in the competition after Geelong.

After trailing by six points at quarter-time, North Melbourne dominated from the second term, booting 17 goals to eight. In the end, the Roos also had 11 individual goalkickers and seven multiple goalscorers.

North Melbourne dynamo Brent Harvey continued his brilliant season and further enhanced his Brownlow Medal prospects with a best-on-ground and game-high 30 disposals, three goals and five inside 50s.

Teammates Shannon Grant, David Hale and Leigh Harding all contributed three goals each, while Lachie Hansen, Corey Jones and Lindsay Thomas each chipped in with two majors.

Midfielders Daniel Harris (27 touches) and Brady Rawlings (27), who ran with Carlton superstar Chris Judd for most of the match, also played important parts in the win, as did Michael Firrito, who spent time further up the ground, with portions on the wing.

For Carlton, Brendan Fevola shone with six goals (but also frustrated at times for the Blues), while Judd (23 disposals) and Marc Murphy, with a team-high 29 disposals, were among its best.

The match started in attacking fashion, setting the tone for an entertaining opening term.

Fevola booted the first two goals of the day – and had three by the first change – but after his consecutive majors, it became a goal-for-goal contest. After almost 35 minutes, 11 goals were registered, with Carlton taking a one-goal advantage into the first break.

After an even first term, the pendulum swung dramatically in favour of the Roos. North Melbourne blasted six unanswered goals, racing away to a 32-point lead, in an outstanding 15-minute period in the second quarter.

So dominant were the Kangas that they had 10 inside 50s to zip by this point. Carlton's first inside-50 entry didn't occur until the 16-minute mark, when Fevola converted his fourth after marking strongly on the lead.

The Blues managed to peg the margin back to 20 points after Fevola bagged his fifth, but when he gave away two 50-metre penalties, resulting in Leigh Harding's second deep in time-on, the Roos were back out to a 26-point lead at half-time.

Tensions mounted just before the main break – Carlton forward Simon Wiggins was reported for charging Harding – and they continued after the siren, when both sides were involved in a melee.  

The third term was a lower-scoring affair with just five goals registered, but after Carlton big man Matthew Kreuzer posted the first of the second half, the Roos booted four in a row to jump out to a 45-point lead.

It became party time for the Roos in the final term, when they booted five in a row to lead by a game-high 70 points at the 18-minute mark, but when Carlton landed the last three goals of the match, the deficit was brought back to 51 points.

GOALS
Carlton: Fevola 6, Cloke 2, Fisher 2, Judd, Kreuzer, Russell, Scotland
North Melbourne: Grant 3, Hale 3, Harding 3, Harvey 3, Hansen 2, Jones 2, Thomas 2, Brown, McMahon, Petrie, Rawlings

BEST
Carlton: Judd, Fevola, Carrazzo, Murphy, Walker
North Melbourne: Harvey, Grant, Hale, Firrito, Harris, Pratt, Harding, Jones, Rawlings

INJURIES
Carlton: Nil
North Melbourne: Nil

Reports: Wiggins (Carlton) for charging Harding (North Melbourne)

Umpires: Vozzo, Meredith, Jeffrey

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL.