North Melbourne coach David Noble experienced nervous moments before Nick Larkey's sixth goal helped ensure the Kangaroos avoided what would have been an embarrassing AFL defeat against severely depleted West Coast.
Hit by a COVID-19 tsunami this month, the Eagles selected three debutants in a makeshift team at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
And they were ultimately forced to field five top-up players from their contingency list after losing defender Jackson Nelson to a knee injury during the warm-up.
The Kangaroos led for most of the match but were pushed all the way by the dogged visitors in an ugly 10.14 (74) to 8.11 (59) win.
It came at a cost as Luke Davies-Uniacke was substituted out of the match after a head knock and Tarryn Thomas was taken to hospital with a rib injury.
Larkey booted four goals in the first half and finished with half a dozen, one shy of his career-best haul.
The 198cm key forward's final major gave the Kangaroos vital breathing space as they fended off a late West Coast challenge.
"Our guys stuck in there," North coach David Noble said.
"It's the second week in a row we've put a gap on an opposition and today we learnt from last week (against Hawthorn) and held onto it.
"I don't know that you ever sit there comfortably and think, 'I think we've got this one'.
"I don't think that ever goes through our mind ... but the way our back end was playing and had the ball in our front half gave us a bit of comfort."
Hugh Greenwood (29 disposals) and top draft pick Jason Horne-Francis (20) were important in the midfield rotation without Davies-Uniacke and Thomas, winning plenty of the ball for the Kangaroos, while Tristan Xerri impressed in the ruck.
The home side dominated the disposal count (386-303) and contested possession (141-114).
Willie Rioli kicked a career-high four goals for the Eagles but Jack Darling struggled on return after spending time away from the club during pre-season as he weighed up vaccination options.
Key forward Darling, who also had an ankle injury interrupt his preparation and sat out round one, managed just six disposals and missed a simple shot at goal in the final term.
Midfielder Aaron Black - a Sandover Medal winner with West Perth in the WAFL - was the best of the Eagles' top-up players with 15 disposals and four clearances.
Black had seven touches in the final quarter and booted a goal that got West Coast within touching distance before Darling and Liam Ryan squandered shots that would have given their side a genuine chance in the dying stages.
"Synergy, belief, system - all that stuff was a challenge - but it looked pretty connected to us," West Coast coach Adam Simpson said.
"We could've won that, absolutely.
"Some of the pressure factor and tackles and those things that just require effort are something that we've been working on as a club.
"We want to continue to grow our identity on that and I thought we took a step forward."
