The Tigers booked their place in the Goulburn Valley League final four with an 12 points elimination final victory over Seymour.
Despite having less opportunities in front of goal - 15 scoring shots compared to the Lions' 18 - Rochester's straight kicking proved to be the difference.
A result which may well have been different in the home-and-away season.
"Throughout the year we probably struggled to make the most of our forward 50 entries consistently," Tigers coach James Flaherty said.
"To be able to convert in a final when the pressure is at its highest is extremely important. Especially when the game was so close, scoreboard pressure was going to be a decisive factor.
"I'm really pleased with the way we kept fighting to create chances in what was a fairly scrappy game which wasn't helped by the conditions."
Key forward Rhys Free was the star for the Tigers, booting five goals in a well rounded display according to Flaherty.
"I thought Rhys presented well all day but stayed in the contest even when the ball hit the deck," he said.
"He got a couple of snaps around the corner which aren't always going to come off, but being able to finish under pressure is an important trait as a forward.
"I don't think we could have asked him to do much more."
In the middle of the ground, Jackson McEwen and Nathan McCarty continued to get their hands on the ball, while also providing a strong resistance when resting at half-back.
"Jackson's last month of footy has been superb," Flaherty said.
"Along with Nathan they gave us great ball use going forward and guys like Rhys finished off their hard work.
"It's important to win the midfield battle in finals and I thought we were able to do that against some quality players.
The Tigers win now sets up a clash with rivals Echuca, who came close to upsetting Kyabram after going down by 17 points.
"Ky and Echuca have quite clearly been the best two teams all year," Flaherty said.
"We know Echuca will come out firing but funny things can always happen at this time of year.
"There is no doubt we're the underdogs but we're not going to go down without a fight.
"We've won five games on the trot so there is quite a bit of momentum behind us."