After being embarrassed by 128 points in their marquee Good Friday game last week, North responded in fierce fashion to give the Crows some nervous moments on Sunday.

But Adelaide weathered the Kangaroos' gallant charge to slam through eight final-quarter goals to one and win 16.13 (109) to 10.8 (68).

After winning just three games last year to collect the club's first wooden spoon, the Crows find themselves inside the top-eight with a 3-1 record.

North took a four-point lead into the last term after dominating the second and third quarters, but Adelaide ran out the game stronger as the young Kangaroos faded badly.

"We got the challenge we thought we would, we'd looked at North closely and they'd been delivering that throughout the first three weeks," Crows coach Matthew Nicks said.

"We knew the heat would come so really proud of our group to finish the way we did. The guys are fit and they can run games out."

North were left reeling when Cam Zurhaar (concussion) and Luke McDonald (pectoral muscle) were ruled out of the match after hurting themselves within seconds of each other.

The pair went straight to the bench, with medical sub Lachie Young activated into the match in the first term.

Winless through four games this season, North's last win was back in round nine, 2020, when they smashed Adelaide by 69 points.

Rejuvenated Adelaide veteran Taylor Walker extended his lead in the Coleman Medal race with three goals, including the opening two of the match in what seemed to be an ominous sign for the Kangaroos.

Walker enjoyed terrific support up forward and Darcy Fogarty made the most of his opportunities with three goals from just five kicks.

Crows young gun Lachlan Sholl had a career-best game with 31 possessions, while Rory Laird and Ben Keays were influential.

North were best served by veteran big man Todd Goldstein and midfielder Jy Simpkin.

North coach David Noble was "encouraged" by the performance and felt the final scoreline did not do his team justice.

"The way our guys controlled the game for a lot of those portions I think our fans and our sponsors could walk away from the game and know that's a bit more around the vision of what we want to do," he said.

"We want to play the way we played today each week and need to come out and understand that's the manner and way we need to deliver our performance."

The Kangaroos face a daunting trip to Geelong to tackle the Cats next Sunday, while Adelaide are at home to Fremantle in round-five.

Australian Associated Press