Standout performances from Emma Kearney and Jess Duffin weren't enough to stop the Adelaide Crows ending the Roos' unbeaten run on Sunday.

Kearney had 31 disposals, surpassing her previous career-best (30), while Duffin took 11 marks for the North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos, but a dominant final term helped the Crows to a 35-point victory. 

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The Roos kicked the first two goals of the game, but Adelaide registered ten of the final 12 majors to seal their fate. 

After four wins to start the season, North now sits second in Conference A, behind the Crows on percentage.

Next Saturday's clash against Collingwood now looms as a vital fixture, with Fremantle and Melbourne finding form in recent weeks and only two teams going through to the finals from each conference. 

The ladder now
On the back of the victory, Adelaide now has 16 points with a percentage of 178.1 per cent. The Roos have dropped to second place, however remain equal on points with an inferior percentage (138.4). Melbourne is the clear danger team, with the Demons' healthy percentage of 160 putting pressure on the Roos to stay in the top two.

Did you see that?
The first double 50m penalty of the AFLW competition was paid in the first quarter. Roo Kaitlyn Ashmore received the first 50m penalty after an Adelaide player encroached on the mark. Ashmore then took off sprinting to advance her way further afield. Caught out, Jessica Foley tried to wrap Ashmore up to stop her from running on. However, under the new rules (for both AFLW and the AFL competition) you are no longer allowed to infringe on the player with the ball and therefore delay the game. Foley admitted after the game that it was a bit of a "brain fade". Amazingly, there were four 50m penalties paid in the first quarter alone.

The battle within the battle
The match-up between Erin Phillips and Emma Kearney was one of the game's biggest subplots, with both stars influential throughout the game. Kearney told the media after the game that she spoke to coach Scott Gowans about taking the role on Adelaide's match-winner: "I wanted to take it to her. I knew her weakness was probably her defensive work and I wanted her to be accountable around the stoppages. At the end of the day, the Crows won so it doesn't really matter about the match-up too much."

Say what?
"We got a really good wake-up call. It's not one you want but to Adelaide's credit I thought they were terrific today. What we learnt today is that we've got a bit of work to do so we'll go back to the drawing board and see what we get out of it." - North coach Scott Gowans

What's next?
North will look to get back on the winner's list against winless Collingwood at Marvel Stadium next Saturday in an AFLW double-header which also sees Melbourne play the Western Bulldogs. 

NORTH MELBOURNE 2.1 3.3 4.3 4.5 (29)
ADELAIDE 3.0 5.1 6.3 10.4 (64)                             

GOALS

North Melbourne: Ashmore, Hope, Em King, El King
Adelaide: Ponter 2, Phillips 2 Thompson 2, E Jones, Riley, Scheer, Li

BEST 
North Melbourne: Kearney, Duffin, Abbatangelo, Garner
Adelaide: Phillips, Randall, Marinoff, Foley, Hatchard, Thompson

INJURIES 

North Melbourne: Trend (right ankle)
Adelaide: Nil

Reports: Nil
Umpires: Toner, Heffernan, Bailes
Official crowd: 2107 at Avalon Airport Oval