NORTH Melbourne's fight to retain its place in the top eight has suffered a major setback, losing to a fired-up Fremantle by 53 points at Subiaco Oval on Saturday afternoon.

A virtuoso eight-goal performance from Fremantle skipper Matthew Pavlich ensured his side would secure their first victory since round three – producing the 18.12 (120) to 9.13 (67) result.

North Melbourne’s third straight loss presents a huge challenge with a tough clash against Hawthorn next week.

Compounding the Kangaroos’ woes was the loss of star ruckman Hamish McIntosh with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.

The Kangaroos started well with McIntosh matching Aaron Sandilands in the ruck, Brent Harvey finding plenty of the ball and Daniel Pratt and Leigh Brown, a late replacement for veteran Shannon Grant, looking in control in defence.

But they struggled to find a winner in the forward 50 and were held goalless for the quarter.

In contrast, Fremantle's forward line of Pavlich, Chris Tarrant and David Mundy were benefiting from their team’s long and direct attacks and the goals soon began to flow.

The much-maligned Tarrant opened with a snap after shrugging off Leigh Harding and Pavlich marked strongly to finish the quarter with two goals.

Down by 29 points at the first break, the downward turn continued for the Kangaroos.

A clash of knees with Sandilands at the opening bounce of the second quarter saw McIntosh assisted from the field to spend the rest of the game sidelined with his right knee braced.

The loss of the big man seemed to inspire the Kangaroos, who lifted their intensity and work-rate. David Hale took on the ruck duties and Lindsay Thomas provided a spark in an under-manned forward line.

Thomas posted the Kangaroos’ first goal two minutes into the quarter after some good work from Daniel Wells, and popped up again moments later with a contender for mark of the week before calmly slotting through his second.

The revitalised Kangaroos drew to within 19 points when Matt Campbell kicked truly and it looked like the small forward set-up had finally clicked.

But Fremantle soon steadied through Rhys Palmer before Pavlich again stamped his authority on the game. He would kick six of his side's next seven goals as the Kangaroos’ coaching staff desperately searched for a defensive option to shut him down.

As Pavlich continued to dominate, North Melbourne was again held goalless in the third term and trailed by 61 points at the final break.

Pavlich opened the final quarter with his eighth, followed by Tarrant's second to stretch the home side’s lead to 73 points.

With nothing left but pride to salvage, North dug deep and found something with a string of goals to Drew Petrie, Ed Lower, Leigh Brown and 100-gamer Leigh Harding.

It was too little, too late but heart should be taken from a winning final quarter after struggling for most of the day.

Pavlich led the way for Fremantle and was well supported by Byron Schammer (21 disposals), Jeff Farmer (27), Dean Solomon (22) and Brett Peake (22).

Brent Harvey (29 touches) again proved to be the heart and soul of the Kangaroos with another hard-running, four-quarter effort with Adam Simpson (26), Wells (23) and Daniel Pratt (20) among the best.

Fremantle    5.3   9.8   13.11   18.12   (120)
North Melbourne    0.4   3.6   3.10   9.13   (67)

GOALS
Fremantle: Pavlich 8, Tarrant 2, Farmer 2, Bell, Ibbotson, Michael Johnson, Mayne, Mundy, Palmer
North Melbourne: Thomas 2, Brown, Campbell, Harding, Harvey, Lower, Petrie, Power

BEST
Fremantle: Pavlich, Farmer, McPharlin, Solomon, Tarrant, Hayden, Schammer
North Melbourne: Harvey, Simpson, Wells, Petrie, Power

INJURIES
Fremantle: Nil
North Melbourne: Hamish McIntosh (knee), Shannon Grant replaced in selected side by Leigh Brown

Reports: Nil

Umpires: McBurney, Fila, Meredith

Official crowd: 34,105 at Subiaco Oval

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.