With Rocherlea keeping the Parrots at bay, the door was opened for Longford to creep in and the Country Tigers obliged with a tense 7.4 (46) to 5.10 (40) win.

Beau Thorp’s men took time to get going and were held scoreless in the first term while Hillwood registered eight scoring opportunities courtesy of Thomas Wilson’s dominance. 

The Tigers wrestled their way back into the game and trailed by seven points at the final change before inflicting a scoreless quarter of their own to clinch the win.

Josh Frankcombe and Lachlan Dakin were best on ground, while Aaron Seen and Hillwood’s Dan Withers were the game’s only multiple goalkickers. 

Longford will wait for the result of the division’s roster finale between South Launceston and Scottsdale next weekend to learn whether it will meet Hillwood or the Magpies in the elimination final. 

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An opening term blitz helped ROCHERLEA end injury-ravaged Bridgenorth’s season.

Star forward duo Ben Elmer and Brayden Claridge were the beneficiaries of the Suburban Tigers’ dominance, combining for seven goals, while the Parrots shot themselves in the foot with inaccurate kicking.

Casey Walker-Russell and Arnie Donnellan toiled hard as the Parrots made a late play for finals, but a return of 1.8 sealed their fate.

Jacob Hawkins was best on ground in Rocherlea’s sixth win for the season, and received good support from Cody Weedon.

The result marked Bridgenorth’s second consecutive season without finals. 

GEORGE TOWN put up a good fight before becoming Bracknell’s 12th victim of the season.

Matt Lang and Matt Carlile paved the way in the 12.9 (81) to 5.7 (37) victory, while 15-year-old Sam Goodluck was named in the Redlegs’ best in his first game of senior football.

Corry Goodluck kicked multiple goals for the 11th time in 12 games, and together with Matthew Hayward (two) led a list of nine individual goalkickers.

For George Town it was Jack Deacon and Alex Spicer who led the way around the ground, getting the ball into Shane Baker who ruled the forward line with three of his side’s five goals.

Teenage goalsneak Chev Deacon kicked seven majors in the under-18s and added another for the senior side to be among the Saints’ best.

The Redlegs will meet either Hillwood or Scottsdale in the qualifying final at Hillwood.