Blossoming spinner James Curran took eight for the day - including his maiden A-grade five-for in the second innings - as the Eagles fell for 89 and 173, still 22 runs short of Launceston's 284.

The outright win secured precious bonus points as the Lions gun for direct entry into the Cricket North grand final.

"It's never easy to get an outright result against anyone, so we knew there was going to be a partnership or a couple of partnerships in the second innings," Launceston captain Alistair Taylor said.

"But to take 18 wickets is a credit to the bowlers - they bowled exceptionally well."

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Resuming at 2-19, the Eagles made it to 56 without further calamity before the carnage began.

Curran (3-26) and Tom Gray (3-20) were lethal as seven wickets fell in eight overs, and by lunch first innings points had been decided.

With Sunday's Greater Northern Cup final at the front of their minds, the Lions opted against resting their bowlers and sent them straight back into the field.

There was instant reward as five wickets fell inside 12 overs but the Eagles weren't done.

Skipper Luke Scott (53) and keeper Sam Canny (45) showed some grit to put on 82 for the sixth wicket as the former compiled his fifth half-century of the season.

It took Curran to remove both in quick succession as the Lions cleaned up the tail despite resistance from James Storay (19) and Jono Jones (17).

The Lions used nine bowlers in the second innings, with only Curran (18) sending down more than eight overs.

"We had a team discussion - we obviously play [Sunday] as well and we didn't want to put the quicks under too much workload," Taylor said.

"The quicks didn't complain - we under-bowled them in the second innings 100 per cent, but it gave some other boys an opportunity to have a bowl as well.

"It was a juggling act but I thought we did it quite well."

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Sean Harris and Nathan Philip both made big hundreds as SOUTH LAUNCESTON broke its streak of tight losses to Riverside in emphatic fashion.

Still 186 runs off the mark at 5-109, South turned the game with a wicketless second session as its two most experienced batsmen frustrated the Blues attack.

When Philip eventually went for 162 off 186 (25 fours), just 10 more runs were needed and the Knights tail gladly obliged.

Batting in Lance Klusener territory at number seven, Harris combined beautifully with the lower order and was 132 not out (22 fours and a six) when stumps were called with South at 9-424.

Andrew Nichols (24*) and James Leake (16) contributed useful cameos while coach Lyndon Stubbs (3-55) was the pick of the Blues bowlers.

"It didn't look great to start with and then Nathan Philip went ballistic," Harris said.

"Riverside bowled pretty well with the new ball but we knew if we weathered the storm a little bit the pitch would flatten out.

"They kept coming all day but it was just really nice to get over the line."

The win keeps South in touch with the top three heading into the bye.

"We're not out of finals contention if we lose today but it makes it really, really hard," Harris said.

"We're certainly still hunting a spot in finals if we're good enough, so it's nice to still have that little window open for us."