NORTH Melbourne has seen off its fiercest rival yet in its 26-game winning streak, fighting tooth and nail to overrun Melbourne by 10 points and qualify for a third consecutive Grand Final.

The Roos trailed by six points coming into the final break, with the Demons – driven by their sterling backline – having played out of their skin in the first three terms.

North Melbourne threw everything and the kitchen sink at Melbourne in the last quarter, and it was the sink which finally got them over the line to secure the tough 6.10 (46) to 5.6 (36) victory.

Superstars Ash Riddell and Jas Garner missed snaps in the fourth term, and it seemed like North Melbourne's 26th ship had sailed, but some lightning-fast hands from Alice O'Loughlin set up Blaithin Bogue for her third, Garner found inexplicable space at a forward stoppage, and Melbourne's hearts shattered after its best-ever AFLW performance.

For all the talk of Melbourne's star duo of Kate Hore and Tyla Hanks, it was the wily veteran winger Paxy Paxman who stood tall early, kicking the opener and setting up Ryleigh Wotherspoon for the second, as the Roos were caught back on their heels after a week off.

Melbourne, meanwhile, had the ideal preparation for a tightly fought preliminary final, with match-ups against Brisbane and Adelaide, and Hore's snap got her side to an unlikely 19-point lead 12 minutes into the game, shocking the majority-Roos crowd into an anxious silence.

While Bogue helped reel some of the lead back in with a brace, the Dees still took a surprise seven-point margin into the first break, Tayla Harris putting an exclamation mark on the term with a classic speccy into the back of Ash Riddell, while Eden Zanker mocked crying to Libby Birch, shoving the Roo in the chest after a clash.

Riddell had just four touches in the first term – well down on her usual output – and the Harris mark added salt into the wound, but she converted a crucial set-shot to open the second, the Roos taking the lead for the first time.

Melbourne's backline was absolutely phenomenal, with Tahlia Gillard, Maeve Chaplin, Saraid Taylor and Sinead Goldrick showing nerves of steel overhead and nullifying an out-of-sorts Randall, Emma King and Kate Shierlaw.

But the Dees couldn't quite put the Roos away on the scoreboard, despite more than a few crucial one-on-one wins through the middle of the ground, kicking four behinds to nothing in the tensest of third terms.

NORTH MELBOURNE     3.1     4.6     4.6     6.10     (46)
MELBOURNE                      4.2     5.2     5.6     5.6     (36)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Bogue 3, Sheerin, Riddell, Garner
Melbourne: Hore 2, Paxman, Wotherspoon, Harris

BEST
North Melbourne: Garner, Kearney, O'Shea, Riddell, Smith
Melbourne: Gillard, Chaplin, Hore, Hanks, Goldrick

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
Melbourne: Nil

Crowd: 7,057 at Ikon Park