The Northern Blues have suffered their fourth loss in a row, falling by 23 points to second-placed Port Melbourne at Preston City Oval today.

The Blues were left to trail at every break and eventually fell to a sharper and stronger Borough outfit 9. 9. (63) to 13. 8. (86).

The Blues started off slowly as Port Melbourne skipped away to a four-goal to-one-lead at the first break.

The fast start was a defining factor in the match come the end of the game, with Port keeping the Blues at arm’s length for the rest of the day.

The second quarter began much the same as the first with Port kicking the first, however the Blues were finally able to string some momentum together.

A quick-fire double to Carlton rookie Andrew Gallucci saw the margin come back to only seven points halfway through the second quarter.

However, the response from the Borough was swift and precise.

Northern was unable to stop a rampant finish to the term from their opponents, conceding four of the last five goals to trail by 26 points heading into the main change-over.

A very cagey beginning to the second half saw both teams unable to really find anything meaningful from a scoreboard perspective.

It took a late Liam Sumner goal to break the drought, bringing the margin back to an attainable 21 points heading into the final quarter.

Blaine Boekhorst, who accumulated 36 disposals for his second week running, gave the Blues the best possible start to the last term with an opportunistic snap from point-blank range.

The answer from Port Melbourne was quick yet again, with Robin Nahas immediately cancelling out the Boekhorst goal.

In spite of the Blues 'spirited effort in the last, the Borough were too strong and held their nerve to hand the Blues a 23-point defeat.

Cameron O’Shea was solid in defence with 22 disposals to go with eight marks. Tom Wilson battled manfully with Luke Russell in midfield with both amassing 23 and 20 disposals.

Northern Blues 1.1 5.3 6.5 9. 9. (63)

Port Melbourne 4.3 9.5 9.8 13. 8. (86)

GOALS

Northern Blues: Gallucci 2, Russell 2, Boekhorst, Kerr, Korcheck, McKay, Sumner