A late fightback put the pressure on North Launceston but the Bombers looked the goods as they defeated North Hobart by 10 points at UTAS Stadium.
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A first-quarter shootout between coach Taylor Whitford and Demons centre half-forward Jacob Steele saw the Bombers sit in front by six points at quarter time as Whitford described the battle as a "grind".
"I thought we got it going in the back end of the second and then into the third," he said.
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
"We probably just didn't get enough reward for our effort in the third term and then obviously in the last, they took the game on at every opportunity and we were probably a bit reactive to what they were doing and didn't probably react quick enough at times.
Steele evened things up early in the second but the reigning premiers were able to stamp their authority on the clash, kicking the next five through Will Edmunds, milestone man Mark Walsh, Brad Cox-Goodyer (two) and rising star Jackson Callow.
The Bombers established a handy 21-point half-time lead, which they then bumped up to 33 at three-quarter time but as one North's flow stopped, North Hobart kicked into another gear.
Devils young gun Jye Menzie kicked two as Thomas Reeves assisted Jeffrey Fisher before nailing one himself to put the pressure right on the home side, but time wasn't the Demons' friend with the final siren blowing before the damage could be completed.
Reeves and Steele looked dangerous up forward for the Demons while Coburg recruit Jack Sandric and the returning Baxter Norton, who had a season at Werribee last year, anchored the defence in the early goings.
The defensive work of Braden van Buuren, who cruelly missed last year's premiership through injury, Fletcher Bennett and Corey Nankervis impressed Whitford in the win.
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