It started as a comfortable opening term for the reigning premiers with the Cavaliers leading proceedings 10-7 at the first break.

It grew at the subsequent two breaks with the Cavs finding enough goals in transition to manage to stay in front at the intervals.

Despite the Cavs being in control for most of the match, Devon never let the lead get insurmountable creating enough pressure and conversions to be in with a chance at the final break.

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In front of their home fans, Devon rallied in the final term to outscore the Cavaliers 13-8 and come within one point of their fourth win of the season.

However, the Cavaliers held their nerve in the dying minutes to ensure they would leave Ulverstone with victory number 12 of the season.

The Launceston side will take confidence from the win given they missed the experience of Shelby Miller (concussion) and Dannie Carstens (away) but managed to pull through with a younger side.

With the bye next week, the Cavaliers are two games clear in second place with only a double-header to come at the Silverdome on July 16-17.

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The Cavaliers had a much more comfortable encounter in the 19-and-unders curtain-raiser as they beat Devon 44-33.

Devon turned the tables in the second term with a 12-9 quarter to snatch back the lead after the opening term.

However, the visitors were undeterred and produced their best quarter for the match in the third term as they clicked on both sides of the ball.

They made best use of their defensive control which saw Devon only add four for the quarter while the Cavs added 15 of their own to create a match-winning buffer they held until the final siren.

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