Holt-Fitz in great form as Tigers feast

NIGHTCLIFF Tigers survived an early surge from a battling Darwin Buffaloes outfit to run out the 18.8 (116) to 12.5 (77) winners at TIO Stadium.

It was Buffaloes that started the better of the two sides bringing all the running and intensity early on with all eyes on not allowing Tigers an early break.

They were rewarded fairly quickly with goals from Anzac Lochowiak and Cassian Sambono.

It was the work of Ben Archard in the ruck that stood out the most with the big man carrying on his dominance in the ruck ,stifling opportunities for his opposition.

But for all the Buffs’ effort Nightcliff eventually forced their way into the contest with young gun Wade Derksen getting the side on the board followed by goals from Tom North and Liam Holt-Fitz.

Nightcliff kicked on from there with Holt-Fitz picking up four second-quarter goals while Cam Ilett showed his game sense playing a main supply role for his forwards.

Buffaloes responded out of the gates in the third quarter with Mihail Lochowiak getting a quick one, while Luke Roberts managed a snap goal under pressure to narrow the margin.

Two Tigers goals within the first minute and a half of the fourth quarter for Kyle Emery and North all but put the final nails in the coffin.

Coach Chris Baksh was pleased to come away with the win pointing out the performances of some of his younger stars.

“We’re pleased with the win particularly with all of the younger guys we had out there,” Baksh said.

“There’s a few guys still finding their feet and we know we still have a bit to work on but I was really impressed with the work rate of guys like Holt-Fitz.

“It’s good to have pressure games now and defensively we want to get better than that.”