SOUTH Launceston qualified for their second successive NTFA division 1 grand final after defeating Bridgenorth by 34 points in their qualifying final at Longford on Saturday.
In blustery and tough conditions, the Bulldogs held the Parrots goalless in the first half while scoring with and against the strong breeze themselves to lead by 34 points at half-time.
They maintained that buffer in the second half to eventually run out winners 8.16 (64) to 4.6 (30).
South's run and spread and quick ball movement were features of the first quarter as they controlled the midfield and used the ball well going forward with the wind to kick 4.7 to Bridgenorth's one behind.
The Bulldogs' tackling pressure around the contests was good all game and their back six were rock-solid, only conceding four behinds in the second quarter with the Parrots kicking with the aid of the strong breeze while they kicked 1.2 into it.
Bridgenorth did not score their first goal until the 11-minute mark of the third quarter through Rohan Sergeant and while having their share of the ball throughout the contest struggled to exert any scoreboard pressure on South.
Shane Wager and Jake Laskey kicked two goals each for the Bulldogs with Leigh Harding, Joel Mountney, Steven Mayne and Jordan Tepper and among their best players.
Sergeant was the Parrots' only multiple goalkicker with two with Logan Wright, Nick McElwee, Chris Savage and Kurt McCabe in their best players.
"The conditions made it pretty tough today for both sides and I emphasised to our boys that it wasn't kicking with the wind that was going to win it for us it was kicking against it - we held them goalless in the first quarter and they didn't score with the wind in the second so our first half set it up for us," South coach Aaron Viney said.
"They had a few talls up forward and our back six were really good with Steven Mayne sensational, Matty Viney and Beau Green and they definitely did the job for us.
"We knew we had a job to do today and that the tempo would go up a bit and it was going to be physical.
"They came out and beat us up a bit in the first 10 minutes around the stoppages but we just kept chipping away at it in the first quarter and ended up having 11 shots at goal but our goalkicking let us down to kick 8.16 for the day - the game should have been all over but I think we nearly kicked ourselves out of it.
"The conditions were really tough and not the usual Longford conditions with the breeze blowing to the other end more than normal but both teams had to play in it and at the end of the day we got the score on the board and we've got the week off now, which is what we were looking for."
Viney said he reiterated to his players after the game that the job was not yet done and the big prize awaited them in two weeks' time in the grand final.
South Launceston also won the reserves and under-19s qualifying finals, and Viney said it would be a big day for the club to have all three teams playing in grand finals in a fortnight.
Last Modified on 16/11/2015 22:35