NORTH Melbourne fell three points short of what would have been a heroic win against Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

Daniel Pratt (hamstring) and Nathan Grima (quad) were late withdrawals for the injury-ravaged Kangaroos, who then lost playmaker Daniel Wells to a quadricep injury sustained in the warm-up.

Tall forward David Hale stepped in for North despite having played in North Ballarat's VFL win over Port Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.

A goal to Levi Greenwood with just 35 seconds left on the clock made it a three-point ball game, but with the ball in dispute in the Kangaroos’ forward line soon after the restart, Jobe Watson took a steadying mark that allowed the Bombers to maintain possession and record the 18.14 (122) to 18.11 (119) win.

The Roos played one man down after Wells' injury until Hale suited up 15 minutes into the first quarter.

Andrew Swallow was outstanding for the Roos with 27 touches and an amazing 15 tackles in his side’s heart-breaking loss.

With coach Brad Scott still madly trying to rearrange the magnets on his match-up board, the Roos actually got off to a bright start, but the Bombers soon made the most of the confusion.

Hardingham booted a goal with his first kick in AFL football to help his side edge 16 points in front, but North first-gamer Ben Speight returned the favour in style to close the gap to 10 points at the first break.

Essendon dominated possession in the second term, but failed to make the most of it with five behinds keeping the Roos within striking distance. Hardingham and Aaron Edwards both made the highlight reel with their respective high-flying marks as the Kangas clawed their way back from a 25-point deficit make it a nine-point game at half time.

The Dons bounced out of the break and quickly stretched the lead to 22 points, but Brent Harvey grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck to keep his side well and truly in it, three points back at the last change.

Goals to Swallow and Lachie Hansen put North in front early in a pulsating final term, but the Bombers booted the next three to regain a lead they did not relinquish.

North Melbourne   3.5  8.5  13.8    18.11 (119)
Essendon                5.3  9.8  13.11  18.14 (122)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Edwards 4, Warren 3, Swallow 2, Hansen 2, McIntosh, Urquhart, Greenwood, Smith, Speight, Adams, Greenwood
Essendon: Hardingham 4, Reimers 3, Watson 2, Davey 2, Gumbleton 2, Monfries 2, Neagle 2, Colyer

BEST
North Melbourne: Swallow, Harvey, Rawlings, Adams, McIntosh, Edwards, Greenwood
Essendon: Watson, Hardingham, Fletcher, Winderlich, Dempsey, Colyer, Hurley, Zaharakis

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Daniel Wells (quad) replaced in selected side by David Hale. Nathan Grima (quad) replaced in selected side by Leigh Harding, Daniel Pratt (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Ben Speight, Lachie Hansen (ankle/knee)
Essendon: Sam Lonergan (general soreness) replaced in selected side by Brent Prismall

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Ryan, Nicholls, Meredith

Official crowd: 30,330 at Etihad Stadium

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL.