The Western Bulldogs have survived a late scare to record an 11-point victory over North Melbourne - 1.6.9 (54) to 1.4.10 (43) - in their round one NAB Cup clash at TIO Stadium in Darwin on Friday night.

A lacklustre affair, which only produced a total of 12 goals, was brought to life in the final quarter when the Kangaroos, who had trailed all night, challenged the Bulldogs for the win.

The Bulldogs had stretched the margin out to a game-high 20 points early into the final stanza and, considering North had only registered three goals up until that stage, looked as though they were going to coast through to the quarter-final stage of the pre-season tournament.

However, at the eight-minute mark, Kangaroos big man Drew Petrie kicked his side into gear with the first supergoal of the match to reduce the margin to 11 points and when Matthew Campbell snapped truly two minutes later, North Melbourne looked as though it was on the verge of pulling off an unlikely victory.

The tense five-minute period which followed came to an end when Bulldog Lindsay Gilbee slotted through a nine-pointer of his own to make the margin 14 points and snuff out a spirited challenge from the Kangaroos.

The loss was made even worse for the Kangas with Daniel Wells straining his groin in the second quarter.

The final 12 minutes produced almost all of the highlights of a match which reminded on-lookers that they were still well and truly in the month of February with skill errors and scrappiness across the board marring a rare taste of footy for Darwinians.

Bulldog Adam Cooney was one player who looked as though he was ready for the premiership season to start next week as he helped himself to 26 possessions in what was a best-on-ground performance.

Nathan Eagleton (21 touches), Scott West (24) and Daniel Cross (22) were also among the Bulldogs’ best.

For North Melbourne, skipper Adam Simpson collected 18 disposals while forward Aaron Edwards put in a strong showing in attack defying the difficult conditions to pull in seven marks.

Lachlan Hansen showed promising signs (Simpson was the only Kangaroo to have more of the ball than him) and Leigh Harding made a solid return to AFL in defence after suffering a serious knee injury late in 2006.

The Bulldogs now play either the Brisbane Lions or Essendon in a quarter-final at the Telstra Dome next week.

WESTERN BULLDGS: 0.2.0, 0.4.1, 0.5.6, 1.6.9 (54)
NORTH MELBOURNE: 0.1.1, 0.3.3, 0.3.5, 1.4.10 (43)
NINE-POINT GOALS: Bulldogs: Gilbee
North Melbourne: Petrie
SIX-POINT GOALS: Bulldogs: Boyd, Akermanis, Eagleton, Street, Welsh, Tiller
North Melbourne: Adams 2, Petrie, Campbell
BEST: Bulldogs: Cooney, Eagleton, West, Cross, Akermanis, Murphy
North Melbourne: Simpson, Edwards, Hansen, Pratt, Petrie
INJURIES: Bulldogs: Ray (ankle)
North Melbourne: Wells (groin)
UMPIRES: Farmer, Head, Fila
CROWD: 8256 at TIO Stadium, Darwin