NTFL 2022-23: Watch Nightcliff Tigers vs St Mary’s Round 15 livestream

Nightcliff Tigers dug deep to scrape out a win in a tight match against St Mary’s at TIO Stadium. WATCH THE REPLAY.

Nightcliff dug deep to keep their winning run alive and see off St Mary’s in a tight and scrappy affair at TIO Stadium.

It was an important win for the Tigers, who improved their finals credentials, after they leapt ahead late in the piece to win 7.9 (51) to 6.13 (49).

The Green Machine seemed to have all the run early, but the first goal instead went to Tigers’ Daniel Quinn as Saints struggled to score.

Saints defender Matt Wilkinson botched an attempt to kick for space and Nightcliff’s Bailey Edwards was quick to take full advantage picking up the ball and kicking through the post.

It was another disappointing outcome for Saints who had been creating plenty of opportunities out of midfield, but getting little more than points for their effort.

The Tigers defence led by Ryan Nyhuis were everywhere suffocating their opposition off the ball and Ben Vile limited last year’s leading goal scorer Jackson Calder at every contest.

However, the Nightcliff defensive pressure did come to bite them as Nick Yarran was taken off the ball in the goal square leading to an easy major for the Green Machine.

The Saints defence were just as apparent, particularly Kieran Parnell and Matthew Green who shut the door on the Tigers’ forward options.

And so the sides found themselves in a low-scoring deadlock for the majority of the match neither able to truly create a lead of more than a couple of points.

Saints skipper Nate Paredes had his digs into the forward 50, while Dylan Landt was a constant running threat bursting out of midfield.

But every time Saints looked like scoring there was a Tiger or two on their shoulders with the pressure forcing behind after behind.

Jackson Bowen of Nightcliff Tigers has been in great form in the 2022-23 NTFL season. Picture: Celina Whan / AFLNT Media

A Jacob Long forward 50 entry did create a rare chance for Jack Gallaher who dropped the ball on his knee to see it through by the tightest of margins.

But as soon as they scored the Tigers leapt back into action with the ever-consistent threat of Brodie Filo belting the ball from outside the 50 to see it through.

Edwards was also a constant source of excitement for the Tigers running into the sometime empty Saints backline to threaten a score.

It wasn’t until the dying minutes of the final quarter that Nightcliff were able to go ahead with the returning Hamish Hartlett, who had enjoyed a busy quarter, kicking true to go within a score.

And then they backed the score up with a goal of the year contender for Lachlan Huppatz.

Edwards kicked deep into the goal square where Huppatz was waiting only for the ball and player to drop to the floor.

But the forward kept his poise and from the ground put boot to ball hitting it over his shoulder to score and put the Tigers up by two, a margin that stuck until the siren.

“We’re starting to get some momentum with this and the win over Crocs, we’re building at the right time and starting to click which is really nice,” Nyhuis said.

“We just dug deep, we adjusted to St Mary’s game a bit better in that last quarter.

“They like to surge the footy, which we know, so we adjusted to that, and a few 50/50 calls went our way as well which always helps.

“Now we just have to keep building. We have a challenge next week with Buffs so if we can push them further away from us then we’re on the right track.”

Score:

Nightcliff: 3.3 4.6 5.8 7.9 (51)

St Mary’s: 2.6 4.8 5.12 6.13 (49)

Goals:

Nightcliff:

Bailey Edwards 2

Daniel Quinn

Jackson Bowen

Brodie Filo

Hamish Hartlett

Lachlan Huppatz

St Mary’s:

Jackson Calder 2

Dylan Landt

Nick Yarran

Jay Boyle

Jack Gallaher

Best:

Nightcliff:

Ben Vile

Ryan Nyhuis

Bailey Edwards

Peter Politis

Hamish Hartlett

St Mary’s:

Dylan Landt

Nick Yarran

Xavier Vallejo

Kieran Parnell

Matthew Green

LIVESTREAM PREVIEW

St Mary’s and Nightcliff will both be leaning on their recent form when they go head to head in an important Round 15 clash.

And the NT News will be there to livestream the game exclusively for you from 7.30pm, Saturday.

St Mary’s are sitting pretty in third place and have been in strong form in recent times as their squad grows closer to their side for finals.

And with quality across the pitch including Dylan Landt, captain Nate Paredes and one of the rep game standouts Nick Yarran.

Nightcliff are also in their best form of the season having dominated top of the table Southern Districts last round.

It was the third win in a row for the Tigers who now find themselves in the top five, but need to keep the results coming to stay there.

St Mary’s will take on Nightcliff Tigers in Round 15 of the 2022-23 NTFL season. Picture: Patch Clapp / AFLNT Media

They’ve bolstered their side from last round with the inclusion of former AFL players John Butcher and Hamish Hartlett.

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The NT News and AFL Northern Territory have come together in a partnership to livestream Men’s Premier League games for this TIO NTFL season.