After finding themselves five goals down at the first break, the Country Tigers showed plenty of heart to win the next three quarters but fell just short of a miraculous win as South ran out 8.5 (53) to 7.9 (51) winners.

“It was a super effort from the guys,” South captain Nick Denholm said.

“We had about 15 different new players from last year’s premiership side so it was just about a bond - all year we hadn’t quite gelled together and then come this finals period we’ve gelled at the right time.”

RELATED: Photos from South v Longford reserves grand final

South defeat Bracknell in NTFA division 1 senior grand final

Key tall Nathan Parkin bounced back from missing out on a spot in the seniors side by winning the Graeme medal, dominating in the ruck and making crucial interceptions in the backline.

“He’s obviously played in the seniors all year and had a really good year, he was unlucky to miss out on a senior game today but because they’ve got lots of talls he came back and played reserves,” Denholm said.

“He took a lot of his marks across half-back and gave it off to the running guys, he was unreal.”

Parkin was ably supported by Luke Tepper and Ben Howard, with Steven Mayne chipping in with two goals. 

Luke Pearton and Zachary Symons were Longford’s best performers, while Ben Barker and Brodie Langley both kicked two apiece.