Despite leading by 20 points halfway through the first quarter, losing the advantage before half time and reclaiming a 21-point buffer in the third quarter, the Power was unable to dampen North's relentless pressure throughout the game.

The game was played in waves, with both teams wrestling for ascendency throughout the entirety of the brutal encounter - while the Power eked out a lead in the first and third quarters, it was the Roos with the upperhand in the second and final. 

North's ability to reel the Power in was thanks partly to the strong efforts of Ben Cunnington, Brent Harvey, Levi Greenwood and Leigh Adams as well as a broadly resilient effort from the blue and white defence. 

Even as the Power again threatened to storm away in the third quarter, there was still a sense the game would go down to the wire, and the pressure brought by the home side meant the Power was unable to emulate its opening two runaway wins - if Port Adelaide was to prevail it would need to outlast the Roos in a war of attrition.

The first sign of the tide turning against the Power came when Monfries injured his hamstring while chasing a loose ball into goals.

One of the Power's best for the first half, Monfries' substitution from the game brought the fresh legs of Jasper Pittard into play, but even he was unable to put his own hard running into full effect as the high-intensity opening half gave way to the fatigue of the second.

Even so, the Power's artillery fired again in the third quarter with goals to Justin Westhoff, Hamish Hartlett and a double to Chad Wingard to extend the biggest lead of the game.

Cruelly, Wingard would head to the rooms early with an ankle injury that left the Power with just 17 fit men for the remainder of the game.

With both sides struggling to control and use the ball effectively, North came home strong in the last quarter led by the veteran Harvey who dragged his side across the line with two critical goals.

Not even a booming centre-square goal from Matt Broadbent was enough to spark the Power to a late charge.

The narrow loss on the back of two stirring wins was a disappointing outcome for the Power and came despite several good efforts around the ground, with Alipate Carlile providing a solid shutdown performance in just his second game back against the Roos' full forward Drew Petrie.

Petrie only managed one behind while Carlile was able to spoil several likely-looking attempts at goal from the Kangaroos' forwards.

Travis Boak also lifted in the second half to finish with 29 disposals, while Matt Broadbent performed consistently across half back all afternoon.

Robbie Gray was also one of the Power's consistent performers with 14 contested possessions and seven clearances, while Hamish Hartlett backed his Showdown Medal-winning effort last week with another solid showing across the game including a mammoth goal in the third quarter.

Port Adelaide's next game is against the Brisbane Lions at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday 12 April at 1:40pm (ACST).

portadelaidefc.com.au will have further information on the Monfries and Wingard injuries on Saturday evening.

SCOREBOARD
PORT ADELAIDE              4.3       6.8   11.9     13.12 (90)
NORTH MELBOURNE      3.2      7.3    9.11     14.13 (97)

Goals: Schulz 3, Monfries, Hartlett, Wingard 2, Wines, Boak, Westhoff, Broadbent
portadelaidefc.com.au’s best: Broadbent, Carlile, Boak, Hartlett, Gray, Cassisi

Injuries: Angus Monfries (hamstring), Chad Wingard (ankle)