Normal service resumed in Men's Premier League after a wet and slippery Round 13 of the 2022-23 TIO NTFL season was completed on Saturday night.
Ladder leaders Southern Districts eased past Palmerston by 10 goals at the Magpies' home ground and Waratah played like a finals side when it beat PINT in a tough, physical encounter at Gardens Oval.
St Mary's beat old rivals Darwin at TIO Stadium after a slow start when the double blue jumpers kicked three goals to one to take a 15-point lead into the first break.
And Nightcliff left it late to pounce back into the top five when an Andrew Hooper snap secured a two-point win against Wanderers in a low-scoring game at league headquarters.
Southern Districts kicked 17 goals to eight against a Palmerston side with Eddie Betts, Travis Varcoe and Cameron Pedersen in their ranks.
The Crocodiles again got maximum value from midfielders Jye Bolton, Ronald Fejo and Jack Mentha, while Matthew Dennis in the ruck and Jake McQueen in a swingman role through the middle and up forward were other good players.
The 60-point win maintained Districts' game and a half break from second-placed Waratah in a season where Shannon Rusca's side are looming as a big threat to win their fourth senior flag.
Waratah was made to work hard for its 27-point win over a determined PINT in Saturday's night game at Gardens.
Ruckman Arnold Kirby, midfielder Dylan Collis and rebounding defender Joel Stevens were the pick of a Tahs side that kicked four unanswered goals in the last quarter to break the shackles PINT had put around them for three quarters.
Kirby said PINT had come to play with their season on the line and showed it with four physical quarters of football.
"Credit to our boys, we slogged it out when they came at us pretty hard and got into the lead where we managed to get it back,'' Kirby said.
"We took a lot out of the last time we played them when the over ran us in the second half, so we made sure that didn't happen.''
A five-goal to nothing second quarter from St Mary's went a long way to winning their clash with the Darwin Buffaloes at Marrara.
The Buffaloes started brilliantly with a three-goal to one first term, John Vrodos, Hassan Ah Mat-Watkins and Kevin Maroney playing important roles in the fast start.
But the green jumpers shook off some rustiness from the Christmas break in the next three quarters, kicking 13 goals to six through a rebounding defence led by Kieren Parnell across half back.
Saints coach Anthony Vallejo said the physicality of the match, where players had to work hard in the ground and in the air to win the football, was a throwback to yesteryear.
"It was a pretty slow start after a few weeks off and we expected that and we made some skill errors,'' Vallejo said.
"Buffs were pretty impressive with (Daniel) Stafford playing his first game back at the club, Matty Campbell lining up for them again.
"Brock and Jack Landt were pretty good in their season's debut and Brandyn Grenfell in the ruck continues to play some good footy.''
Nightcliff and Wanderers got engaged in an arm wrestle from the first bounce at TIO Stadium, with no more than a goal separating both sides for the whole game.
Cameron Ilett and Ryan Nyhuis were the Rock of Gibraltars for the Tigers in a game where only 12 goals were scored in 100 minutes of football.
Nichols medallist Beau O'Connell impressed for the Eagles, booting three goals in a high-possession game.
