Approaching the 14-minute mark Richard Moulds received a free deep in defence, passed to James in front of the memorial gates who handballed to Craig Jaeschke and he had a bounce before finding Amey on his own 60 metres from goal. Amey unloaded with a long bomb, the footy bounced through for a goal and North was 8 points up.

The Roosters had another two chances to goal soon after but Amey hooked a ping at the big sicks from 50 metres out, another shot by Matt Ward from the paint went through off hands for a behind and the Demons made them pay.

Matt Vandeleur went short to Thomas with the kick-in, Thomas gave the footy back to Vandeleur who had a bounce and found Wallent on the outer wing. Wallent played on, kicked towards centre-half-forward, Casey Sommerville roved the footy, gave it to Wayne Hutchinson who found Mitchell Reynolds and he snapped truly from 40 metres out.

North had two opportunities to answer during the time-on period but Huppatz missed a snap at goal from 30 metres out in the entrance pocket and a snap by Hollitt from the canteen pocket went through off hands for a behind.

The Demons made the most of their limited opportunities in the opening term while the Roosters didn’t and they only led by 6 points at the first huddle.

QUARTER TIME: NORTH 3.6 (24), SOUTH 3.0 (18)

It took four ball-ups before the footy was finally cleared out of the centre at the start of the second term for South by Sam Parish to the entrance pocket, Seymon marked but his shot at goal from 35 metres out cannoned into one of the large uprights.

A few minutes later the Demons had another opportunity to goal but Sommerville missed his snap from 30 metres out and to add to their woes their coach Matt Vandeleur had just finished for the day with a hamstring injury.

At the 9-minute mark North stretched out their advantage when Wilkins received a free and delivered a good pass to Amey on the lead who kicked to the pocket and James marked. James went backwards to Craig Jaeschke who marked and made no mistake from 35 metres out.

James had the opportunity to make it a 16-point deficit a couple of minutes later after receiving a handball from Ellis but he failed to penetrate the large opening from 25 metres out.

With 15 minutes on the clock the Demons cut the margin back to 5 points with Johann Wagner marking a shocking kick out of defence by the Roosters and making them pay by nailing the major from 40 metres out.

South won the centre clearance through Sam Heinrich and Lewis who kicked to the entrance flank where Seymon marked but his shot for goal from 45 metres out went through off hands for a behind.

Following the re-start there was a ball-up 40 metres out from the Demons goal, Thomas thumped the footy forward, Seymon gathered, handballed to Reynolds who snapped his second goal for the half and South was in front.

During the time-on period North had three chances to goal but they finished with a rushed behind, Amey missed from the Valleys pocket and Wilkins missed from the same pocket on the boundary line.

Late in the term Amey was given a free at a ball-up 15 metres out from goal, popped the footy through the middle for his third and the Roosters went to the long break 7 points up.

HALF TIME: NORTH 5.10 (40), SOUTH 5.3 (33)

North got off to a great start in the second half with Ward roving a ball-up in front of the cans bar and handballing to Ben Coles who handballed to Smith and he found Sam Pink. Pink kicked inside fifty, Amey marked and made no mistake from 45 metres out with 2 minutes on the clock.

Six minutes later the Demons had the chance to get the reply but Wagner failed to convert from 35 metres out after good work from Lewis and Reynolds.

Murphy gathered the wayward kick-in, passed to Hutchinson who squared the footy up to centre-half-forward, Thomas gained possession, ran to within 40 metres of goal, snapped successfully and the margin was back to six points with 9 minutes gone in the third term.

Two minutes later Seymon had the opportunity to level the scores after marking a pass from Sommerville in front of the scoreboard but his shot for goal from 45 metres out went through off hands for a point.

Approaching the 13-minute mark Seymon had another chance to goal and put his team in front after receiving a magnificent pass from Lewis but he missed the target from 45 metres out.

The Roosters had two chances to nail majors in the next few minutes but a ping at the big sticks from 80 metres out by Amey rolled through for a behind and Waters missed a snap at goal from 40 metres out.

Richard Lewis marked the kick-in, found Murphy backward of the outer wing and he passed to Wallent who took a good mark. Wallent handballed to Scott Lewis and he speared a great pass to Seymon in front of the scoreboard. This time Seymon converted from 40 metres out and the scores were level.

Both teams had their chances to nail majors approaching the time-on period but James missed the target from 50 metres out and Wagner missed a snap at goal from 5 metres out.

North worked the footy forward from the kick-in to Pink who kicked inside fifty, Pink was decked after he kicked the footy, Ellis accepted the free down the ground, kicked truly from 30 metres out directly in front and they were a goal up.

Two and a half minutes into time-on Sanford marked the footy in defence, handballed to Lehmann who kicked to the outer wing, Murphy roved the footy off hands and chipped it in front of Andrew Vandeleur who gathered.

Vandeleur dribbled it forward, Sommerville gathered the footy beautifully, ran to within 35 metres of goal, finished off the terrific play with a major and it was all tied-up at the final break.

THREE QUARTER TIME: SOUTH 8.7 (55), NORTH 7.13 (55)

The Demons were first to get the scoreboard ticking over in the final term but it was only a behind with a snap off the boot of Wagner. The Roosters transferred the footy the length of the ground from the kick-in finishing with Smith having a snap for goal but it rolled through for a behind.

At the 5-minute mark Waters had a snap at the big sticks for North from 40 metres out but he missed the target too. Three minutes later Sam Heinrich had a shot for goal at the other end of the ground but he hit the post and the scores were level again.

Simon Jaeschke marked the short kick-in and went short to Craig Jaeschke in the canteen pocket. Jaeschke chipped the footy to Michael Harrold who handballed to Moulds and he kicked to the broadcast wing.

Huppatz marked, played on, handballed forward, James got hold of the footy, kicked inside fifty, Amey took a great mark, nailed his fifth goal for the afternoon from 40 metres out directly in front and the Roosters were a goal up with 10 minutes on the clock.

Hollitt won the clearance for North with a handball to Waters who kicked to the scoreboard pocket, Smith marked but failed to convert from 40 metres out. Following the kick-in Sommerville received a free in the canteen pocket but he couldn’t find the large opening either from the tight angle.

Approaching the 14-minute mark the Demons had another chance to goal but Seymon missed a snap from 10 metres out.

Wagner gathered the kick-in, handballed to Sam Heinrich who handballed to Lehmann and he handballed to Sanford who kicked to the canteen pocket, Sommerville gathered the footy on the boundary line and snapped a miraculous goal from 30 metres out.

Scott Lewis won the centre clearance with a short kick to Alex Heinrich who bombed the footy deep inside fifty, Matt Stone dished a quick handball out of a pack to Wagner, he made no mistake from 15 metres out and the Demons were 7 points up with 15 minutes gone in the final term.

Two minutes later it could’ve been a 13-point margin when Sanford worked hard to gain possession of the footy and get it to Stone but he failed to convert from 50 metres out.

Approaching the time-on period Huppatz received a free kick forward of the centre, bombed inside fifty, Tyson Pawley held onto a good grab, split the centre from 35 metres out and the margin was back to 2 points in favour of South.

Two minutes into time-on the Roosters had the opportunity to get their noses in front but Amey missed the target from 40 metres out after laying a strong tackle on Andrew Vandeleur.

With 24 minutes on the clock Lehmann cleared the footy out of defence to the outer wing, Wagner gathered, handballed to Wallent who kicked inside fifty, Reynolds got hold of the loose footy, handballed to Murphy, he didn’t miss from 20 metres out and the Demons were home.

The Roosters cleared the footy out of the centre to half-forward, Pawley was given a free, the siren blew, he didn’t put it through and the Demons had won by 6 points making the Roosters chances of playing finals footy in 2009 very very difficult.

FINAL SCORE: SOUTH CLARE 11.12 (78) d NORTH CLARE 9.18 (72)

South Clare coach Matt Vandeleur said it was a good win for skipper Matt Dare’s 200th game with the club.

“We played well, it was our best side we’ve had in all year and to finally get a few blokes back from injury was nice. Our use of the wind in the second quarter was pretty ordinary, we kept North Clare in the game, they obviously lifted and played well, they played that zone defence which we struggled to work out but to fight it out like we did in the last quarter was really good, we showed a lot of character and it was a great win for Darey’s 200th,” Vandeleur said.

North Clare coach Craig Jaeschke was disappointed with the loss and admitted it was going to be tough to make the finals now.

“They (South) played a good game, we always knew it was going to be a tough game, they had a full side, we had a full side and it was tight ’til the end. I actually thought it might have been a bit higher scoring that what it was, they shut us down and it could’ve gone either way in the end but they got us again which is pretty disappointing for us. It makes it very tough for us now to play finals, we’ve now got to rely on other results and we’ve got to beat Blyth/Snowtown and BBH in the last two to get in there. Today was the one that we needed and we weren’t up to it,” said Jaeschke.