THE SYDNEY Swans have continued their recent dominance over North Melbourne with a nail-biting one-point victory at Etihad Stadium, giving them their fifth win in a row against the blue and white side.

The match was decided 10.12 (72) to 9.17 (71), and was best described as an arm wrestle, played largely between the arcs with plenty of interesting subplots.

The lead changed seven times after the Swans reeled in the Kangaroos' quarter-time advantage of 12 points, and the Roos were in front for five minutes late in the fourth before Ben McGlynn kicked his third goal at the 22-minute mark to give the Swans their match-winning lead.

The Swans lost the contested possession count (155 to 132) for the first time in six games against the Kangaroos and the clearances (40 to 30) for just the second time this season, and they even trailed in inside 50s 53 to 48.

However, they made the most of those forward forays after a sloppy start and claimed the four points, despite also losing the final quarter for the second time in five games.  

Heath Grundy's performance was hugely important against Drew Petrie after the Kangaroos' forward got away from Ted Richards to take three leading marks and kick two goals in the opening six minutes of the game.

The Swans had another win with Rhyce Shaw blanketing Brent Harvey and keeping the Roos' skipper - who entered the game ranked No.1 at his club for possessions against the Swans since 2006 - to 16 touches.

North ruckman Todd Goldstein was the dominant big man against Mark Seaby, who was playing his first senior game since being the substitute player in round one, but sent a scare through the Roos' camp when he hurt his left forearm in the third quarter.

He received treatment on the bench and was able to play out the game. North coach Brad Scott said afterwards there was no structural damage and the big man should be fine for next week's clash with Adelaide.

The result gives the Swans their fifth win for the season while the Roos have now lost seven - three of which were in the past month.

Influential players
Scott Thompson played on Adam Goodes, and while the Brownlow medallist was very good in patches, the Roos' backman was consistently significant. He ended with 19 touches and even kicked two goals, which added to the one he kicked in his 58 games of AFL football before Saturday.

Tadhg Kennelly was one of the Swans' best players with 27 disposals and four rebounds, and was a key component of the composed defence that stood strong during the thrilling final moments of the game.

Lewis Jetta was subbed into the game at the start of the fourth quarter. While he finished with just a handful of touches, he had three exciting pushes into attack within seven minutes of coming on and was involved in the McGlynn goal that gave the Swans their match-winning lead. He then tackled Michael Firrito minutes later at centre wing, which gave the Swans yet another chance to score. He injured his knee in the action but coach John Longmire said he had been given the all-clear by the doctor to stay on the field.

What it means
It leaves Scott searching for his first win over the Swans, having lost the past three on his watch. It also leaves him to work out just how the Roos won three of the major statistic categories - and had Goldstein monster Seaby with 53 hit-outs - yet still lose the match.  

It means the Swans can still manufacture a win even when they lose in the key performance indicators. It also showed Longmire areas in which the side desperately needs to improve to match it with the big boys. It was the Swans' fourth win with a margin under three goals - and at the end of the season, it will be those close victories that could play an important part in the ladder order.

Turning point
At the 19-minute mark of the first quarter, Lindsay Thomas had an opportunity to give the Kangaroos a game-high lead of 26 points when he ran down Luke Parker and won a free kick inside 50. However, he shanked his opportunity to kick what could be considered a sitter and the Swans rubbed salt into his wound by kicking the next goal. It proved an even more significant loss as the next quarter unwound with the Swans taking the next seven marks inside 50 and claiming control of the game before hitting the front at the 12-minute mark.

New faces
Lewis Johnston, a 20-year-old key position player from North Adelaide, played his first game in his third season at the club and became the Swans' fifth debutant for the season. He was quiet in the first half and used his first kick in AFL football on a behind but broke through for an important goal in the third quarter that pushed the Swans 10 points clear.

While Levi Greenwood isn't new to the AFL world, it was his first foray into the 2011 season. After overcoming a badly sprained ankle he sustained in the pre-season competition, he has played the past three weeks in the VFL. On Saturday, it took him a while to get into the action and he had just four touches to half-time. By full-time, he had 11 touches and three clearances, and will be much better for the run.

Interesting fact
Goodes is the only Swans' player to have lined up in all 30 of the club's games at Etihad Stadium since its first hit-out at the Docklands venue in round one, 2000, against St Kilda.

What the coaches said
North Melbourne - Brad Scott
"I know I sound like a broken record here but if you look at statistics and you say when you win contested possession 155 to 131 you win clearances 41 to 29 and you go inside 50 53 to 48, they are pretty key fundamentals of the game.

"They suggest you can win the ball in a contest, they suggest that you can clear the ball from congestion in a stoppage and you can give your forwards enough of an opportunity but we kicked 9.17 and we turned the ball over at crucial times.

"Last year against a mature Sydney side we were comprehensively beaten in those areas.

"I know the football world looks at win loss and that is ultimately what you are judged on but as coaches we look at improvement in the side, we've improved in that area but we're just not executing and finishing off games well enough. But with hard work, that polish will come."

Sydney Swans - John Longmire
"We can be better...we can a lot more consistent over the period of four quarters.

"There were a couple of good efforts that helped us get over the line.
 
"Sometimes you just have to dig in - they had a lot of inside 50s in the last quarter, they might have had 18 or something like that, and I thought defensively, we withstood that pressure pretty well. That was a really pleasing sign."

Quarter by quarter

FIRST QUARTER
North Melbourne jumped the Swans early, kicking the first three goals of the game within the first eight minutes. The Kangaroos had taken six marks inside 50 from their first six entries to the scoring part of the ground. Petrie had kicked two goals and Aaron Edwards one, their pace off the mark worrying the Swans defenders. The initial match-up of Richards on Petrie and Grundy on Edwards was changed. North Melbourne had seven scoring shots before the Swans goaled, through Jarrad McVeigh at the 20-minute mark. His goal came soon after North Melbourne's wayward, but desperate, forward Lindsay Thomas missed an easy set shot after earning a free kick for an excellent tackle. It pushed Thomas' scoring tally for the season to 10 goals, 22 behinds. From there the game stabilised and by quarter-time Sydney had 13 inside 50s to North Melbourne's nine and were breaking even at stoppages.

SECOND QUARTER
When Lewis Roberts-Thomson marked on the goal line 13 and a half minutes into the quarter, the Swans gained the lead having kicked the first three goals of the quarter, through McGlynn, Sam Reid and Roberts-Thomson. Tadgh Kennelly, Martin Mattner and Nick Malceski were creating run from defence so when Adam Goodes kicked his first for the game to extend the lead to nine points midway through the quarter, they looked in control. The Swans were stronger around the packs and North Melbourne was getting into trouble trying to run the ball from defence using handball. However, full-back Scott Thompson turned the game back North Melbourne's way, kicking a long goal at the 20 minute mark, just the second of his career (the only other coming against the Eagles in round 21, 2010) before reprising the moment with his third career goal five minutes later when he won the loose ball, broke through traffic and kicked long to watch it bounce through like a one iron that hits the rough before finding the hole. The Kangaroos took a two-point lead into half-time, with both sides entitled to rue missed opportunities in front of goal.

THIRD QUARTER
Poor skill execution, lead changes and the occasional undisciplined act defined the third quarter. The lead changed three times in a low scoring encounter that saw the ball hotly contested. Three of the quarter's five goals were kicked in a two minute burst between the 17 and 19-minute mark when McGlynn goaled after Firrito gave away a 50-metre mark, charging into McGlynn after he'd marked in an act that appeared avoidable. A minute later the Swans Lewis Johnston kicked his first goal, on debut, the long bomb giving the Swans a 10-point lead. North Melbourne responded with a Jamie MacMillan goal on the run following a stoppage and then the two teams battled hard without kicking another goal. The Swans had a four-point lead going into the last quarter.
 
FOURTH QUARTER
North Melbourne will rue this one as they had enough inside 50s to win the game, gaining the lead late after a Petrie goal that immediately followed an inspirational Daniel Wells banana goal. Leigh Adams missed a set shot soon after that may have sealed a tight contest and Sydney were able to regain the lead with a goal to McGlynn that gave them a two-point lead. Despite the ball having been inside North Melbourne's forward line for much of the last five minutes and inches away from being rushed through for a behind they could not draw the game.

The Next Four
North Melbourne has an interesting run ahead. The Kangaroos will face Adelaide at Etihad Stadium next week; a venue where the Crows have lost their past five games. Then they will travel north to face Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium before returning to play Essendon at Etihad. A round 14 clash with the struggling Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium rounds out their next month of winnable matches.

The Swans hit the road next week to take on the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba, which is a very gettable game for them, before they host Richmond at the SCG where the Tigers haven't won since 2004. They will then be tested against Carlton at Etihad and Collingwood at ANZ Stadium, where the Pies haven't lost against them in five games.

Dream Team highlight
North Melbourne: Andrew Swallow ($351,000) scored 116 points and he was the only Kangaroo to score more than 100 in a good performance.

Sydney Swans: Heath Grundy ($293,600) scored 106 points and took a match saving mark of the day to be one of four Swans to clear 100.

North Melbourne    3.4 5.10 7.13 9.17 (71)
Sydney Swans        1.3 5.8 8.11 10.12 (72)

GOALS
North Melbourne:  Petrie 3, Thompson 2, Edwards 2, Macmillan, Wells
Sydney Swans: McGlynn 3, Goodes 2, Roberts-Thomson, Reid, McVeigh, Seaby, Johnston

BEST
North Melbourne: Thompson, Swallow, Wells, Petrie, Adams, MacMillan, Goldstein
Sydney Swans: Kennelly, Shaw, Grundy, McGlynn, Bird, Mattner, McVeigh, Malceski

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Todd Goldstein (jarred elbow)
Sydney Swans: None

SUBSTITUTES
North Melbourne: Ben Cunnington replaced by Ben Speight at three quarter time
Sydney Swans: Luke Parker replaced by Lewis Jetta two minutes into the fourth quarter

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Kennedy, Dalgleish, Schmitt

Official crowd: 24,267 at Etihad Stadium

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