Crows star Danielle Ponter kicked two goals in the opening three minutes of the final term to reduce the margin from 20 points to eight in a Friday night top-four blockbuster.Â
But in a frenetic finish in which Adelaide threw everything at the contest, North Melbourne's defence stood tall to secure the 6.5 (41) to 4.9 (33) win.
The result means North Melbourne will enter next week's final round half a win clear of second-placed Hawthorn.
North Melbourne host the lowly Suns in the final round, and a win - or even a draw - would guarantee them top spot.
Adelaide slipped to a 7-3 record, with their top-four hopes to be decided by next Friday's clash with Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.
North's Kate Shierlaw (left) was delighted to silence a strong Adelaide crowd with the win. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)
"That was a grind. It felt like a final," North Melbourne forward Kate Shierlaw told the Seven Network.Â
"It was great fun to be a part of and I'm happy to get the four points.
"To come over here to their home ground with their mad crowd, it's really good to get the win."
Jasmine Garner starred for North with 27 disposals, five clearances, eight tackles, 527m gained and two goals, while Ash Riddell was also crucial with 25 disposals and seven clearances.
For Adelaide, Ebony Marinoff was prominent with 25 possessions and 17 tackles, while Porter finished with a game-high three goals.
Coast to coast Roos 🦘— AFL Women's (@aflwomens) #AFLWCrowsNorth pic.twitter.com/aRLKHUOGQCOctober 25, 2024
Adelaide forward Caitlin Gould took two early grabs and kicked a goal in a bright start, but the Crows ended the first term with 1.3 to their name from six entries after spraying a few gettable shots.
The Crows' run of consecutive behinds stretched to five early in the second quarter, the most notable being when Ponter slammed her close-range snap into the post.
Ponter made amends a few minutes later with a strong contested mark on the goal line, with her subsequent major giving Adelaide a deserved lead.
But against the run of play, Garner took an intercept mark and released a handball to Shierlaw, who nailed her 40m goal on the run.
It marked North Melbourne's third goal from a turnover, and a late free kick to Vikki Wall gifted the Kangaroos another goal as the visitors headed into half-time with a 27-17 lead.
Danielle Ponter (right) gave Adelaide a chance with two last quarter goals, but North hung on. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)
Adelaide's plight was summed up by the third quarter in which North scored the only two goals.
Gould badly sprayed a 30m set shot she should have nailed before Chelsea Randall's own set shot faded late.
North Melbourne made the most of the reprieves by swinging the ball up the other end, where Bella Eddey tumbled through a goal from 48m to stretch the lead to 15 points.
Then with less than a minute remaining in the term, Garner snapped her second goal to give North a 20-point advantage despite Adelaide having the same amount of scoring shots.
Ponter's early goals in the last quarter made things tense, but North held firm to extend their unbeaten run to 10 games.
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