Carlton captain Chris Judd capped off a massive week with a strong second-half effort to lead the Blues to an 18-point win over North Melbourne on Friday night.

In an exciting contest that drew a crowd of 41,332 at Etihad Stadium, the Blues started the final quarter on level terms with the 10th-placed Kangaroos.

But the Blues moved a spot up to third on the AFL ladder after the first match of round 19 thanks to a five-goal last quarter to beat North 11.14 (80) to 9.8 (62).

Judd, the Brownlow Medal favourite, was held to just nine touches in the first half but finished with 25 disposals and kicked a crucial goal in the last quarter to inspire his side.

The midfielder, looking tired after a long week which included the birth of his first child, was overshadowed in the end by Marc Murphy, Heath Scotland and creative half-back Chris Yarran.

Yarran's ability to find the open spaces and bounce the ball several times on a scything run gave the Blues a huge boost, while North played into Carlton's hands with constant turnovers.

Carlton coach Brett Ratten said he had made a point of using North's request to be drawn to play the Blues in their only Friday-night game of the year as motivation for his side.

North had also won seven of their past eight clashes with the Blues.

"For our football club and (the game) being on a Friday night, it was time to make a stand," Ratten said.

"We spoke about `why do the Kangaroos pick us for their Friday-night game every year?' So it was time to make a stand and we had to do something about it tonight." North coach Brad Scott said inefficient ball use cost the Kangaroos an upset win.

"We think our midfield is elite. We thought we competed really well in there and the clearance area was good for us," he said.

"We just let ourselves down going forward and we turned the ball over far too much." Both coaches paid tribute to their defenders, with Carlton's Lachie Henderson doing well against Drew Petrie (two goals) and Scott praising Scott Thompson for his role on small forward Eddie Betts who was held to one goal.

It was Carlton's 12th win of the season.

Bryce Gibbs kicked four goals for the Blues while North's Drew Petrie and Cameron Pedersen kicked two goals each.

Andrew Swallow ran himself into the ground with a 33-possession game for the Kangaroos.

In a scrappy first half, North kicked three goals in each term to lead 6.2 (38) to Carlton's 3.9 (27) at the main break.

The Blues kicked three goals to North's one in the third term.

Dennis Armfield suffered a minor ankle injury and was subbed off for Carlton's 200-game player Ryan Houlihan at three-quarter time.

Carlton host Melbourne at the MCG next Saturday August 6 in round 20 while North Melbourne play Hawthorn the following day in Launceston.

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