NTFA Division One: Old Launcestonians take down Old Scotch in qualifier

The sodden turf made for slow goings throughout the game, but a clutch three-goal final term from OLs' Thomas Chugg ended up being the difference maker.

"Old Scotch had beaten us by a total of 102 points across this season, so to turn that around was big for us," OLs coach Laine Cleaver said.

OLs served the Thistles an uppercut from the opening siren, stringing together a couple of scrappy attacks to take the lead early.

This was aided by bullish pressure from OLs in the centre, helped by Will Archer, Luke Wheldon and Zach Gardner.

Wheldon appeared to be one of the only players to relish the harsh conditions, able to force Thistles midfielders into making a number of errors.

But it didn't take long for the the Thistles to compose themselves and adjust to the drenched field of play.

Through the muddy haze, the Thistles used speed in the flanks to their advantage, with quality lanes opened by Jock Darke, Tom Allison and Brinley Duggan.

Then in the second half, a soaring mark by Old Scotch's Will Harper at the 50 and subsequent goal had the Thistles taking the lead.

But the rain didn't bother the wily and accurate Jay Schulz, who made pivotal plays around half forward and used his taller frame to out-manovre Old Scotch's backline.

"His impact early was pretty uplifting for how we mentally carried ourselves through the game," Cleaver said.

At the other end, Harper was able to force his way through the pack on a number of occasions to take contested marks and score two majors.

But from the fourth quarter onwards it was the Chugg show, as the gunner booted three from distance to put the game to bed.

"He's a big game player and two of his goals came from outside 50 at the Northern end where the wind was coming from," Cleaver said.

"When the game's on the line ... it was uplifting and got the boys up and about."

OLs will now move on to play Lilydale, while Old Scotch will play East Coast in an elimination match.

Meanwhile, in the Premier division, Deloraine coach Lochy Dornauf announced he would be stepping down from the role after two seasons at the helm.

The Roos star mid will stand down due to work and life commitments, according to Deloraine's Facebook page, but will continue to play for the club.

Nathan Lowe was named as Dornauf's successor to take the senior coaching reins.

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