Essendon has snapped its six-game losing streak with a thrilling three-point win over a wounded North Melbourne outfit at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
The Bombers led all night and held off wave after wave of challenges from the Roos to run out 18.14 (122) to 18.11 (119) victors.
There was drama for the second night in a row at Etihad Stadium with another tense finish after the Kangaroos were dealt three injury blows before the first bounce.
Jobe Watson seemed to have all the time in the world as he racked up a game-high 38 disposals as did Jason Winderlich with 27 and 10 clearances, while Brent Harvey was dominant for the Roos, terrorising would-be tacklers all night with 30 important touches.
He was aided by Andrew Swallow who could not be stopped, picking up 27 disposals and laying a whopping 15 tackles to put the skids on the Bombers whenever he could.
Kyle Hardingham was lively up forward for the Bombers on debut with four goals and could quite easily have had another couple.
Kyle Reimers added three goals of his own in the 36-goal shootout that saw the Roos post the highest losing score of the season.
Up forward for the Roos, Lachie Hansen battled manfully, kicking a couple of goals and providing another avenue to goal despite carrying a leg injury right from the first quarter.
He wasn't the only threat either, with Aaron Edwards (four goals) and Ben Warren (three) the other multiple goal kickers for the Kangaroos.
The motivation for both sides going into the clash was vastly different.
North Melbourne was looking to sneak into the eight while the ramifications of another Bombers loss, or worse - a limp effort, didn't bode thinking about.
The Kangaroos were dealt a huge blow before a ball was even bounced, with dashing midfielder Daniel Wells ruled out with a quad injury in the warm-up.
Roos' coach Brad Scott raced down to the bench to reshuffle as it looked like his side might have to play the game out with only three on the interchange.
But with the late paperwork completed, third emergency David Hale came into the side having already played in the VFL.
Add to that the late withdrawal of Daniel Pratt and Nathan Grima as well as the debut of Ben Speight and Jamie MacMillan and the Roos were already facing an uphill battle with personnel.
Essendon, with lady luck on its side, sensed this might just be its night and when debutant Kyle Hardingham goaled with his first kick in AFL football, and the Dons had opened up an early six-point lead.
The contest continued to open up with both sides finding space plentiful while streaming forward on the break.
North Melbourne in particular, played to a Pagan's Paddock-esque game plan.
Soon though, the Bombers regained their characteristic dash and dare to control the midfield channel and open up a 10-point quarter-time lead.
Goals to Ben Colyer and Jobe Watson, with the Bombers' fourth on the trot, stretched the gap to 25 points midway through the second quarter and at the stage it was starting to look like one-way traffic.
But the Roos weren't about to lie down.
Andrew Swallow accurately slotted home from a difficult set shot before an Aaron Edwards hanger resulted in another major, and when Ben Warren kicked the Roos' third consecutive goal on the stroke of half time, the margin had been cut to nine points in the blink of an eye.
The Bombers regained the ascendancy again early in third with back-to-back goals to open the term but as was the case in the first half, the few times the Kangaroos ventured forward, Essendon -which had conceding an average of 127 points in the past five weeks - looked threadbare in defence yet again.
The Roos continued to find that slice of luck whenever they looked down and out and as the sides traded goals late in the third, with the Bombers holding a slender three-point lead at the last break, the match was starting to exceed its billing.
The Roos booted the first two majors of the last through Swallow and Hansen and hit the Bombers with everything they had.
But just as they had all night, the Dons showed their newfound resilience, to hold off the Roos and post their first win in seven games, withstanding a tense finale.
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, Greenwood 2, Hansen 2, Swallow 2, Adams, Goldstein, McIntosh, Speight, Urquhart
Essendon: Hardingham 4, Reimers 3, Watson 2, Davey 2, Gumbleton 2, Neagle 2, Monfries 2, Colyer
BEST: North Melbourne: Harvey, Swallow, Rawlings, Adams, Edwards, Warren
Essendon: Watson, Winderlich, Reimers, Zaharakis, Hardingham, Dempsey
INJURIES: North Melbourne: Hansen (leg)
Essendon: Nil
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: North Melbourne: Nathan Grima, Daniel Pratt and Daniel Wells replaced by Leigh Harding, Ben Speight and David Hale, Essendon: Sam Lonergan replaced by Brent Prismall
UMPIRES: Ryan, Nicholls, Meredith