Waratah and Nightcliff will meet in back-to-back matches in the 2023/24 TIO Men's Premier League when they clash in Saturday's NTFL qualifying final at TIO Stadium.
The quirk in the finals draw came about after Tahs outplayed the Tigers in Saturday night's final home and away game to grab third place on the MPL ladder and another matchup with their beachside rivals.
Elsewhere, St Mary's finished minor premiers and earned a week's rest from finals football following their 122-point win over the sixth-placed Buffaloes.
PINT celebrated its first shot at the Premier League finals with a 51-point win over the winless Palmerston and Wanderers ended a disappointing 2023/24 season with a two-goal win over an inaccurate Tiwi Bombers side at Tracy Village.
But all eyes were on the traditional "Battle of The Beaches'' clash between the home side Nightcliff and reigning premier Waratah.
A win for the red and whites would lift them above Southern Districts in the race for third spot and the double chance, a task they accomplished in fine style.
Nightcliff could only kick three goals against an airtight Tahs defence led by Daniel O'Dwyer's close checking game on big marking Tiger spearhead John Butcher.
They kicked nine goals themselves in a low scoring affair to win 9.7 (61) to 3.12 (30) in front of a pro-Waratah crowd despite their away status.
Lachlan Cassidy around the ball, Jack O'Sullivan up forward and Scott Carlin were also busy in a win that earned them another shot at the Tigers in the first week of the finals.
Jayden Magro's two goals were enough to win him the coveted Dennis Dunn Medal in his third Top End season, his 63 goals beating Jarrod Brander and Jackson Calder's 61 majors.
Coach Ryan Ayres watched his players regain the momentum they will need in their search for back-to-back flags and a repeat of Bill Martin's 1998-99 and 1999-2000 champions.
"We knew it was going to be tough out there against a Nightcliff side that is pretty good at drying up the scoring and making it a battle right to the end,'' he said.
"Dan O'Dwyer's work on John Butcher was very good, particularly how he responded after having a few goals kicked on him last week that hurt his pride a little bit.''
St Mary's had 22 good players in their 24.12 (156) to 4.10 (34) win over old rivals Darwin.
Nate Paredes was back to his best with a big possession game through the midfield and Tex Korewha's six goals and tandem work with Jackson Calder up forward worked a treat.
First year wingman Seth Harris roamed TIO Stadium at will to become a link man in several Saints forward moves and Jack Kluske was his usual constructive self.
Paredes said the Saints' first minor premiership in eight seasons had been a goal of the players in their bid to make their finals campaign a "little'' bit easier.
"In my case it's just being consistent out there with the body feeling a lot better this year after a couple of injuries in the past couple of seasons affected my fitness,'' he said.
"Our midfield is working really well together, so we all get a bite of the cake at some stage.''
PINT's win over Palmerston signalled a new era for the second year Premier League club and its participation in the finals for the first time.
Former Nightcliff and Darwin small forward Liam Holt-Fitz was the Greenant's best player on a night when they kicked three goals in each quarter to win 12.8 (80) to 3.11 (29).
The win means they will take winning form and a big shot of momentum into their elimination final against Southern Districts.
While Holt-Fitz was his creative self, Thomas Schott around the ball and Ethan Smith running down the ground were other notable performers.
Wanderers had to withstand a last quarter Tiwi Bombers comeback before winning only their third game of the season.
The Bombers peppered the goals in the last 25 minutes but came up empty in the goals department when they could only kick eight behinds from several scoring chances.
Daniel Clee's four goals and two from veteran Brenton Motlop gave the Eagles a three-goal buffer at the last change they were able to hang on to.
Karlson Kantilla's completed a tremendous debut season rucking for the Bombers in one of several positives to emerge from the season.
