A tale of differing quarters was settled in the dying embers as the NTFA senior men's side delivered an enthralling win over the SFL senior men 11.14 (80) to 8.6 (54).
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The senior men's side delivered one of the more dominant opening terms to be played on UTAS Stadium as the home side strolled to a five-goal to none quarter.
It might have been enough to have the historians looking for the record books but the NTFA senior side looked like a well-oiled machine as Liam Davies (33 possessions, one goal) and captain Jordan Tepper (24 disposals, one goal) feasted on tandem work from Matty Dennis and Hamish Leedham.
Dennis added the home side's fifth goal late in the term to join the party but Luke Murfitt-Cowen (three goals) and Jake Triffett (three goals) were the fire-starters inside-50 with the latter delivering a pair of classy finishes close to goal.
"Did not see that coming but credit to South, you never really want to get walked over in rep footy and we had control in the first quarter but to their credit they came back and fought back," NTFA coach Lochie Dornauf said.
After the first break, the Southern visitors returned with renewed vigor and application around the ball as they used their leg-speed to break across the wide expanses of UTAS.
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It worked to a tee with the visitors regaining a foot-hold in the match as Max Lamb (two goals) and Darcy Gardner (three goals)at the double finished off their work in front of goal.
After waiting until early in the second term for a major, the SFL out-scored the NTFA in a three-goal to one quarter. The SFL repeated the dose in the third term with another three goal to one quarter to be only two goals from the lead at the final break.
"We just needed to get back to what made us a good football side in the first quarter with our unselfish play and out run and carry and will to win the contest," Dornauf said.
"When we did that, in the last five or six minutes we started to take back the game .... it was an amazing result for us."
A Southern clean-sweep was on the cards when the visitors struck early in the last term to bring the margin to within a kick but the home side delivered three goals in three minutes to seal it.
Tepper delivered a captain's goal to stretch the lead to eight points from a set-shot before Davies returned the margin to double digits with a composed finish from inside-50 with mere minutes remaining.
When Cody Lowe added his second of the game after being found by Jack Donnellan at the tip of the goal-square, the home side was assured of that winning feeling.
Vice-captain Ethan Petterwood was selected at the NTFA's best on ground while Jack Gleeson was picked as the SFL's top player for the match.
"Petterwood was incredible, he's just a competitive beast, he hates getting beaten and he's the fittest bloke out there," Dornauf said.
"Also our ruck combo of Matty Dennis and [Leedham], we get Dennis who's one of the best ruckmen in the state and then to have Leedham, who is a brilliant ruckman in his own right, he allows Matty Dennis to go forward and impact the scoreboard."
Dornauf dedicated the win to NTFA life member Geoff Skeggs, who played over 600 games across stints at East Launceston, South Launceston, Rocherlea, Winnaleah and Evandale.
"It's a testament to the people that we've got involved like Skeggsy, he's probably the biggest person involved out here for us," he said.
"Skeggs has done amazing things for representative footy in the last 16 years and it's really good to give back to him and it probably means more to him than to anyone so we're really happy to deliver that.
"You can understand a lot of boys might want to go away with their families or have a bit of a rest but they put their hands up, they kept going after it and they represented their league which does so much for them, I really respect and appreciate that."
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