Nightcliff will play in its fourth TIO NTFL Men's Premier League grand final in six years after beating St Mary's by 11 points in Saturday night's second semi-final.
The Tigers' pursuit of a seventh league premiership under first-year coach Leigh Crossman gained a big piece of momentum after their 13.9 (87) to 11.10 (76) win.
It was only the second time 33-time league premiers St Mary's have lost a second-semi-final since the 1991/92 NTFL season.
Meanwhile, Southern Districts remain on track for their fourth senior flag after dumping reigning premier Waratah out of the finals race with a comfortable 52-win in the elimination first semi-final.
Nightcliff's win in the major semi-final was its third win over St Mary's this season, installing them as flag favourites in the process.
It was an extraordinary grand final qualifier for two quarters as first Nightcliff, then St Mary's dominated the match with a barrage of goals.
Nightcliff kept their opponents scoreless while booting five goals themselves in the first quarter before St Mary's came storming back with six of the first seven goals in a free-for-all second term.
A four-goal burst from big marking spearhead Jackson Calder threatened to change the match fortunes and small forward Mitch Musgrove kicked another two.
Sanity prevailed in the second half, despite a late comeback by St Mary's in the shadows of fulltime when the green jumpers booted two quick goals and missed two more goalscoring opportunities that would have put them less than a goal behind.
Crossman, who coached the Tiwi Bombers to their first and only flag in 2011/12, said the second quarter turnaround had given his side a big fright.
"But full credit to St Mary's, they're a quality side who finished on top of the ladder for a reason and we knew they'd come at us,'' he said.
"But from there we were good enough to capitalise on our chances when the ball went forward, which was very pleasing.
"Liam Buxton in the ruck wasn't too bad for us, the big guys don't get any smaller as the game progresses which is a beautiful thing and Johnny Butcher up forward was quite handy for us.''
Lewis Rinaldi's close checking of Saints skipper Dylan Landt, last season's NTFL Rising Star Peter Politis busy work rate, Cody Szust through the midfield, Brett Kennedy up forward and skipper Ryan Nyhuis down back were other major contributors for Nightcliff.
St Mary's coach Anthony Vallejo remained philosophical after the loss, saying the first quarter had let his side down.
"Six goals down at the first break was always going to be hard to haul back and even though we got to within a point in the second quarter, they were the better side on the night as they proved in the second half,'' Vallejo said.
"We were a bit fumbly early on and they were match hardened, so the week off might have cost us early on.''
A Jye Bolton masterclass and five goals from spearhead Jarrod Brander headlined Districts' big win over Waratah, with a hard-working defence putting a seal on the win.
It also meant a straight sets exit for last season's champions Tahs on what is likely to be coach Ryan Ayres' last game in charge.
But for Districts, the search for a second flag in their fourth grand final since winning the premiership in 2017/18, continues with a flourish.
The Crocodiles kicked the first three goals of the match and were never headed in a win coach Shannon Rusca described as a footy club that came to play on the day.
"They're a good side when they want to play together and they executed very well being a very coachable group that carried out my instructions very well.''
Rusca said the removal of ruckman Matthew Dennis and Brander midway through the last quarter were precautionary after Dennis landed awkwardly on an ankle and Brander felt some tightness in a hamstring.
Ayres did not confirm rumours sweeping TIO Stadium on Saturday night that he will not be back at Tahs in the 2024/25 season after six seasons in charge at Gardens Oval that included the 2022/23 TIO NTFL Grand Final win over Districts.
"I don't know, I'll have a long think about it and where I'm going, but in terms of this match we've had a few sore bodies over the last few weeks thast we've tried to manage,'' he said.
"But there's no excuses, Districts are a very good side and they played well today.''
