OB book place in finals

ll round it was a near flawless performance with rock-solid defending, endless hustle and clinical finishing at the end of well-worked passing moves. And again a multitude of scorers provided the goals, a testament to our increasing diversity in attack. We had a game plan. We executed it. We won.

Set them straight. With everyone totally focused from the start, it was in the air for a great performance. Starting with Wayne "on the ground more than a Cuban prostitute" in goal, them scoring was left in doubt at best. Although they did sneak on by, it was the exception to a solid performance protecting the fort.

Not give up early goals. Next came the defense. My vote for the MVP of the evening. An absolutely awesome display of tactics, heart and skill. With Ian and Dom smothering their attack at every turn and Steve & Inky's relentless drive and hustle, the game was effectively over in the 1st 10 mins. The gameplan to man-mark their forward took him right out of the game.

Maximize our Chances. In the midfield, the battle was won in both attack and defense, with great support for the forwards - providing 3 of the 5 goals - and disciplined defending when necessary. With Matt out injured and Darren unavailable, Joe, Jess, Chris, Steve G and Des ran the show easily dominating the centre of the park. Up front, Tim and the Gaffer provided darting runs and backtracking to cover and win the ball on defense, with Tim especially troubling their defenders with seemingly every touch. The Gaffer seemed to have left his compass at home, but still managed to bring out the "Buddha" for a semi-final appearance.

The game started at a very fast pace, with both teams going end to end in the first few minutes. ?The breakthrough came early courtesy of a wonder goal from...????.....what's his name again......Oh, yeah, STEVIE G! A full on scissor-kick volley, his 6th of the season and 2nd of the playoffs, after a clinical passing move to start the game off with the goal of the night, possibly the season! The Gaffer added No. 2, the 26th for the season & 4th in the playoffs, near the 10min mark - again finishing off a precision passing sequence with a shot blasted into the far corner. Things got a little heated about 15mins in when inky and the big striker got into it getting blue cards (10 min "cooling off" penalty). The boy really should have been sent off after he took a swing at Inky. We then controlled the game well till the half, just taking the speed down a notch and keeping possession to hold on the lead.

The second half started like the 1st, the lead increasing to 3-0, after a 10sec, 6 or 7 pass attack that started at the back and ended with their keeper pick up the ball out of the net, the result of Joe firing home a rocket, his 5th of the season and 1st in the playoffs! CITCO hit back shortly after scoring after a scramble, with Wayne getting hand to it. It was small bump in the road to victory and the 3 goal lead was soon restored, keeping the theme of finishing flowing passing moves with Tim slotting home a well earned 15th for the season and 4th in the playoffs. The victory was finished off with less than a minute to go with the Gaffer providing Chris' 1st goal of the season from a corner.