Longford beat Rocherlea in footy heart-stopper rocked by scoreboard drama

The scoreboard which had been unreliable during the match, showed Rocherlea had won the NTFA premier blockbuster by two points (61-59) at home.

But for those who were following the scoreboard closely it seemed to have jumped too far after Rocherlea's most-recent major.

It created drama on the sidelines in the dying moments with spectators yelling out whether it was right or wrong as Longford pushed to score.

And it meant both teams gathered in the middle of the ground after the siren; eagerly watching as the goal umpires approached the scoreboard to cross-check it with their own scorecards.

Adjustments were made and Longford were then allowed to celebrate their famous 9.5 (59) to 7.13 (55) victory which coach Mitch Stagg noted was their first win at Rocherlea in about five years.

"My heart was beating out my chest, I must admit," he said.

"Our match manager was very confident we were in front so I trusted him but until it goes up on that scoreboard, you're never really sure. I'm just super relieved to get the result."

Country Tigers midfielder Liam Davies summed up the general bemusement well.

"It was certainly confusing because I was dead certain we were still a goal up and then all of a sudden I looked at the scoreboard and they've got an extra score on the board," he said.

"I didn't know what was going on and I yelled out to the bench 'that's not right' and they're like, 'yeah, it is, yeah it is'."

City Tigers coach Josh Ponting was on top of the situation.

"We only had a couple (of players) that thought we had won. I knew we weren't in front so I made sure the boys knew straightaway that obviously we didn't win the game of footy," he said.

"But we had a terrific fight. That was what I made clear to my boys, that the way we fought the game out was the most pleasing thing."

Rocherlea stormed home after a disappointing first half which resulted in them kicking one goal to Longford's five.

Ponting, a midfielder, went to full-forward in the third quarter, swapping with Brayden Claridge who went into the middle.

The City Tigers looked better but couldn't capitalise on all of their chances in the final quarter.

Dakota Bannister missed a set shot and Taylor Stone's long ball was touched off the boot making it a behind.

Midfielder Jordan Cousens got the breakthrough, kicking one of the goals of the season.

He gathered from a throw-in, ran on an arc by the boundary and thread the needle from 30 metres with his left boot.

Cousens was on song and within minutes called for a handball by the boundary at half-forward.

His booming left-foot kick under pressure hit Kaiden Cox-Goodyer on the chest who then snapped a goal from close range.

Rocherlea's Mitchell McCarroll, who was playing his first senior match of the season, then got among the action, winning a holding the ball free-kick.

He kicked truly from a tight angle before Luke Richards streamed out of middle and hit Ponting on a lead.

Ponting missed and it was two goals the difference. Longford ruck Michael Larby, who had toiled hard, then went down with what Stagg thought may be a knee injury.

Both teams gathered in their huddles as Larby was stretchered off by trainers.

Play resumed and an out on the full free-kick resulted in Rocherlea's Jake Smith kicking a point before teammate Jack Rushton got the same result.

With Rocherlea now seemingly 10 points behind a 50m penalty led to a Brayden Pitcher goal from the square, making it 59-55 Longford's way.

The scoreboard drama happened soon after.

Ultimately it was Longford's ability to establish a 33-point three-quarter-time margin that won them the game.

"We've conceded the first goal here (at Rocherlea) pretty well every year for the last five years," Stagg said.

"To get that first goal on the board, it was that bit of confidence that we needed and we followed that through. It was very important to get a lead.

"Rocherlea in fourth quarters have been coming home with a wet sail so we knew that was going to come."

Ponting provided his take on why his team were so far behind.

"They defended the ground really well, especially on turnover, we turned the ball over a fair bit going forward," he said.

"They got their numbers back and got a sling-shot forward and then our backs and mids got caught on the back foot and they got a few good looks at goal and that's all it takes."

As for injuries, Ponting said defender Luke Purdon, who played his 100th senior game, may have strained a hamstring.

The coach added Andrew Cox-Goodyer didn't play due to a wrist fracture sustained against Hillwood that could keep him out for four to six weeks.

In other round seven matches, Bracknell defeated George Town 11.11 (77) to 8.13 (61) at Blue Gum Park, Deloraine beat Scottsdale 14.15 (99) to 6.8 (44) at home and Bridgenorth outlasted Hillwood 8.13 (61) to 8.7 (55) at Parrot Park.