South East Melbourne used vexing defence to halt North Melbourne's five-game win streak. Mike Kelly finished with 19 points in a low-scoring game while Sam Mackinnon charted seven boards. "It was excellent defence and it highlighted some of the things we need to work on at this stage," North Melbourne coach Brett Brown said. "We weren't playing a four-three team, we were playing last year's champions and they had their backs to the wall."
North Melbourne: Mitchell 21, Stiff 17, Reidy 16, McDonald 10, Goodwin 9, Johnson 2, Shanahan 2.
South East Melbourne: Kelly 19, Mackinon 17, Ronaldson 15, Parkinson 12, Tolbert 11, Anstey 9, Dorge 5.
