South Launceston defeat Rocherlea in NTFA premier qualifying final

Full-forward Josh Holton had gathered about 30-metres out under pressure and fired a handball off to the speedy Zane Brown who wriggled clear and banged it through on the run.

But as the quarter ticked into red time, South Launceston found something.

South's fleet-footed half-forward Sam Lucas got into the thick of the play and kicked a long ball that landed in the hands of Brendan Taylor who read the flight of the ball well.

Taylor kicked truly from straight in front before he then won a clean ball at the next centre clearance.

The former Launceston TSL gun played a third quarter reminiscent of Hawthorn's Stuart Dew in the 2008 grand final win against Geelong.

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Earlier in the term, he had converted on the run from about 50m in what was the classiest play of the day.

South captain Jay Blackberry, who was the danger man going into the game, also lifted and hit up Grant Holt in the forward-pocket.

Holt snapped it through to put the Bulldogs ahead 45-37.

But the biggest moment came when midfielder Blackberry, who had been closely followed all day, banged through a left-foot goal from 50m just before the siren to make it a 14-point buffer.

Not many players in the league would have hit that set-shot in a game, let alone a close final.

Despite a gallant Rocherlea fightback in the fourth stanza, those five crucial minutes were enough to set up the 10.10 (70) to 7.12 (54) triumph in the NTFA premier qualifying final at Youngtown Oval on Saturday.

It means the Bulldogs play Hillwood, who earned the week off, in the second semi-final next weekend.

Rocherlea will play the winner of Sunday's elimination final between Longford and Bracknell in the first semi-final.

Bulldogs coach Jack Maher gave his take on what happened late in the third term.

"We always knew our fitness was going to be good," he said.

"But we were able to win it at the source and get some outside run.

"We knew if we could do that, that's when we could open them up. To Rocherlea's credit, they didn't allow us to do that, especially that first half and through stages of the second.

"As we could beat them on the outside, that's when I felt we got away from them a little bit."

Maher praised Blackberry's ability to seize the moment and ruck Cody Lowe's big second half.

He said Lucas was one of the big improvers at the club.

"His ability to get on the outside, his speed - it was a big asset," Maher said.

"He was getting into really dangerous spots when he got the football forward of centre and he definitely opened it up."

Maher lauded Taylor's clearance and in-and-under work as well as his goal-kicking ability.

Rocherlea coach Josh Ponting shared his thoughts on how the Bulldogs got away.

"They're a pretty dangerous side because of the way they run and link up," he said. "So if that ball is in a contest and it gets flicked out, they suddenly chain up one or two handballs and they break your line of defence.

"Obviously, we're trying to put enough pressure on them to turn it over but as soon as that one gets to the outside, they've got really good runners.

"They like to try and get you out the back and score.

"That's very hard to stop sometimes if you can't get a hold on that ball and maybe get a stoppage or even win it back ourselves."

It was a country footy spectacle and the key characters came to play.

Blackberry and Rocherlea's star Jordan Cousens were among the first to embrace after the game which was fitting.

They had played their hearts out and both had big moments.

Cousens, who dominated throughout the day, kicked a long goal on the run at the ninth minute of the last quarter to give the Tigers a sniff. They both featured in the best players and kicked one goal each.

Maher praised the pair for their efforts and felt his Bulldogs managed Cousens well.

"I thought we did it pretty well, that we limited his (Cousens') footy in our forward-half and then they threw a bit of caution to the wind there in the (fourth) quarter when he kicked that goal.

"He's a genuine match-winner. You probably could call it even (between them) I reckon."

Ponting also lauded them and felt his players did a good job trying to nullify Blackberry's influence.

The Tigers had done their homework on the gun Bulldog with Ponting, Sam Suter and Jake Smith playing on him at different times.

Ponting was by his side at the first bounce.

"I went to Jay a fair bit. Sam (Suter) went through him a little bit, Smithy went through him a little bit. We tried to mix those up," he said.

"We don't want to get too stuck in focusing on one person but you do have to nullify a quality player like Jay around stoppages and stuff like that. To his credit, he had a little bit of the ball himself."

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