The Western Bulldogs have suffered their first loss of season seven, going down to North Melbourne by 15 points in front of a capacity crowd at Punt Road Oval on Friday. 

The Roos kicked off a full Friday of AFLW with a 6.7 (43) to 4.4 (28) victory, jumping into the top eight in process. 

North Melbourne was able to limit the Bulldogs' contested marking game, holding them to just five - half their average this season - while taking six themselves.

The Dogs had their moments - their ability to escape danger by hand was superb, with supporting runners always coming from behind. They used the ball well around the ground, methodically picking out targets, but poor decision-making going inside 50 allowed Roo Sarah Wright to sit back and intercept.

05:21

AFLW Match Highlights | Bulldogs v Kangaroos

The Bulldogs and Kangaroos clash in round five of the 2022 NAB AFL Women's Competition

On the flipside, they struggled to cleanly take the ball or hit targets because of the pressure the Roos were applying. 

Alice Edmonds' star continues to rise with another strong performance both in the ruck, marking around the ground and applying pressure, including back-to-back smothers in the first quarter to set the standard.

Meanwhile, former No.2 draft pick Jess Fitzgerald used her power to break away from contests and gain ground, registering 306 metres gained from her 15 disposals.

The game broke open in the third quarter after a contested first half, as both sides found run and space to slingshot into attack, exemplified by a Bulldogs run down the wing ending in Rylie Wilcox's third goal for the season. 

00:54

Wilcox finishes the end-to-end play

Rylie Wilcox levels the scores following a brilliant team run by the Bulldogs

A late surge from the Bulldogs was quickly quelled however, with the visitors going on to kick the final goal of the game. 

The Bulldogs will host a rampaging Geelong outfit on Saturday afternoon in Ballarat for their first home game at Mars Stadium for the season. 

WESTERN BULLDOGS             2.1     2.1     3.4     4.4     (28)  
NORTH MELBOURNE             1.2     2.4     4.4     6.7     (43)  

GOALS  
Western Bulldogs: Wilcox 2, Moody, Cranston 
North Melbourne: Eddey, Wall, Abbatangelo, E.King, Craven, Randall 

BEST   
Western Bulldogs: Edmonds, Berry, Georgostathis, Blackburn 
North Melbourne: Garner, Bresnehan, Wright, Bruton 

INJURIES   
Western Bulldogs: Nil 
North Melbourne: Nil 

Reports: Nil  

Crowd: 2500 at the Swinburne Centre