North Melbourne coach David Noble has praised his team’s response to a difficult second quarter against Port Adelaide on Sunday.

After trailing by two points at quarter-time, Port took control of the game in the second quarter, kicking eight goals to the Roos' one.

Orazio Fantasia played the role of chief destroyer with three goals, but was restricted to just one major in the second half. 

Noble said despite the final margin, the resilience shown by North’s young side was promising.

“The guys came out and responded well in the third … then kept going and won the last quarter,” Noble told North Media.

“It was really important for our guys and our fans to see the make-up of the group.

“Our ability to respond, learn on the fly and adjust things as we went [was pleasing].”

With North’s defence under pressure at times during the clash, Noble praised the impact of Ben McKay and Jack Ziebell. 

McKay was given the tough task of matching up on Charlie Dixon for the duration of the game, while Ziebell got his first taste of a new role across half back.

“I thought McKay did a great job on Dixon,” Noble said.

“They held up well in the defence. They battled away.

“Our skipper played really well off of half back [with] his timing of helping Corr and 'Buckets' (McKay) … he played a really strong captain’s role.”

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Jaidyn Stephenson was the pick of North’s new faces, with the midfielder collecting a game-high 33 disposals.

Noble said he was impressed with the new signing's first game for the club and believes there’s more to come from him.

“He’s been building towards that … I thought he was terrific,” Noble said.

“We challenged him over pre-season … his contribution to the team was really important.

“His centre-bounce work was good, his capacity to play higher up the ground, have good entries and have some scoreboard pressure as well … I was really pleased for him.”