THE Western Bulldogs has shaken off a determined North Melbourne by 22 points in front of a crowd of 31,470 at the MCG.
The Dogs were far from their slick best but did enough when required to run out winners 17.6 (108) to 12.14 (86).
North Melbourne hit the front mid-way through the third term and was still ahead during the time-on period of the third term.
But the Dogs kicked away with six of the last seven goals of the match.
Matthew Boyd was the most consistent Dog over four quarters and Robert Murphy showed positive signs but all the stars bounced in for cameo performances at times.
Youngster Liam Picken did a fair job on returning North skipper Brent Harvey, Brian Lake and Ryan Hargrave were superb in defence, while Daniel Giansiracusa was the catalyst for the Dogs' dominance when the game was there to be won.
He kicked three second-half goals and set up a couple of others with his terrific foot skills.
The Kangaroos probably had more good players over four quarters including Scott McMahon, Harvey, Drew Petrie, Hamish McIntosh, Leigh Harding and first-gamer Liam Anthony.
Anthony, 21, picked up 28 possessions and looked capable of playing at the level for some time in a positive sign for the Roos.
North Melbourne started the match with plenty of vigour but fundamental errors cost them dearly in the opening term.
Defensive blunders close to goal handed the Bulldogs four of their six first-quarter goals while the Roos were far from precise at the other end.
They missed a couple of gettable set shots and Daniel Harris also dropped an uncontested mark 30m out that cost another goal.
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, were deadly with their opportunities in front of goal.
Running left-foot snaps to Shaun Higgins and Jason Akermanis highlighted this, and it was mainly that skill advantage allowed the Dogs to take a nine-point lead to the first change.
But coach Rodney Eade looked far from happy as he addressed the troops at quarter time.
If Eade stressed the need for a lift in intensity it showed immediately, at least at the start of the second term.
Some fierce tackling led to the opening goal of the term through Scott Welsh, brute force earned Mitch Hahn another, before the Roos lifted.
North was a man down with Ben Warren being forced from the field with a leg injury early in the game but they weren’t about to lie down.
In fact, they had the better of the rest of the second quarter and showed more appetite for the contest than the Dogs.
North also found some run off half-back and a few targets up forward in Petrie, Lachlan Hansen and Corey Jones.
Uncharacteristic turnovers from the likes of Cooney and Giansiracusa were symptomatic of an off colour Dogs’ line-up.
Still they managed to take a slender two-point lead to half-time as much through brilliant individual efforts than outstanding team play.
The Dogs grabbed the early goal in the third quarter through Daniel Cross then had to absorb plenty of pressure from a committed Kangaroos outfit that threw themselves at every contest.
North wasn’t exactly fluent with their ball movement, and gave up two goals to shocking turnovers, but by mid-way through the term they had grabbed the lead after a pair of Leigh Harding goals.
Their biggest problem was trying to move the ball forward with some system and that deficiency saw the Roos waste their dominance in this portion of the game.
Another North clanger, this time by Ben Ross, handed Akermanis a goal, then a Josh Hill screamer in the goalsquare snatched back the lead for the Dogs in the shadows of three-quarter time.
The margin at the last change was five points in favour of the Dogs despite the Roos having had five more scoring shots.
A patch of Giansiracusa magic at the start of the final term really ended the contest.
He dished off to give Hill one goal then booted two himself to stretch the margin.
It proved a bit too big a gap for the Roos to bridge as the pace of the contest began to tell on all the players.
NORTH MELBOURNE 4.4 8.8 11.13 12.14 (86)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 6.1 9.4 13.6 17.6 (108)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Petrie 3, Harding 3, Garlett, Swallow, Hansen, McIntosh, Jones, Hale
Western Bulldogs: Giansiracusa 3, Welsh 2, Higgins 2, Akermanis 2, Hill 2, Eagleton 2, Ward, Gilbee, Hahn, Cross
BEST
North Melbourne: Harding, Swallow, Harvey, Petrie, Gibson, Ross, McIntosh, Anthony
Western Bulldogs: Boyd, Giansiracusa, Lake, Murphy, Hargrave, Higgins, Cross
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Warren (suspected broken fibula), Jones (cut head)
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Chamberlain, Meredith, Findlay
Official crowd: 31,470 at the MCG
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
