North Melbourne got their AFL season back on track with a five-point upset victory over Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

Needing a win to stay in touch with the pack, the Kangaroos attacked the ball with vigour, used it well and finished superbly to post their most significant victory of the season, 20.5 (125) to 18.12 (120).

Although clearly the better side, the Kangaroos let their guard down towards the end and Port pounced with four goals inside five minutes, Daniel Motlop's soccered behind then bringing the margin to within one kick.

The ball was locked in the Power's forward line for the final frantic minute, but North had every player in defence and did a good job forcing ball-ups to seal the victory.

Full-forward Aaron Edwards and crumber Matt Campbell kicked three goals apiece for North, youngsters Jack Ziebell and Ben Ross enjoyed coming-of-age games and Daniel Wells had a major impact in the middle quarters in his first game back from a hip injury.

The Kangaroos turned their dominance in general play into a decisive 31-point lead at halftime following a burst of six unanswered goals in the second term.

The Kangaroos' finishing was so effective that over the course of the first three quarters, they booted 15 straight goals without a miss, although that run included a behind rushed by Port's Chad Cornes.

Port spent most of the second half whittling down the deficit and closed to within 13 points at the final change before their late rush.

Despite the anxious finale, it was an impressive win for North, who kept in touch with the main pack at 3-4 after poor defeats the previous two rounds.

Port's defeat again left Mark Williams' side hard to read, as their loss squandered their chance to make a mini-break on the middle pack.

The Power are now 4-3 after seven games.

Veteran midfielder Adam Simpson was also a stand-out, although he could be in trouble for a bump on Port's Kane Cornes, who had his head over the ball.

Onballer Travis Boak was Port's best, while Warren Tredrea booted three goals.

A poor attendance of 14,342 is expected to mean the Kangaroos will incur a six-figure financial loss due to their crippling home game deal with Etihad management.

The attendance was the fourth-lowest at the roofed stadium, which has hosted more than 400 AFL matches in 10 seasons.

North confirmed Simpson was reported for his bump on Kane Cornes, who suffered a shoulder injury.

Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley was pleased with the way his side attacked the contest despite the close finish.

"I thought we played really well," he said.

"They've got some very, very quick players and at some stage they were going to get outside of us it was only a matter of when, and we planned for that, and when they get a run-on they're very hard to stop.

"We've been on the end of some hidings from Port Adelaide but when we're able to control certain areas of the game we're a show, and the boys' endeavour across the 22 who played (was great)."

In bad news for North, Campbell suffered a hamstring injury late in the game and veteran Brad Rawlings was a late withdrawal with a leg injury, which makes him a 50-50 prospect for Saturday's game against Geelong.

Port also lost Steven Salopek to a dislocated shoulder.

Williams made it clear how costly it was missing the chance to secure outright third spot.

"It was a terrible result for our club," he said.

"I thought we started really poorly, we were expecting them to play exactly how they did and we didn't handle it.

"We made way too many mistakes, we fumbled the ball all the time and we had a couple of bad injuries which stopped a bit of our flexibility as far as our run was concerned.

"In the end we were a chance but I'm not sure how many days the opposition kicks straight like that, it was just unbelievable."

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