A brief report today, as no note taking. No doubt the whole team feel as I do, VERY disappointed with the outcome of this semi final. I honestly thought we would have enough to win the game and complete a historical double, However, our opponents took us seriously and when you are paying players at a Sunday level it is very difficult to match that. There was nothing in the game during the first half. We took a while to cope with their formation of almost 4-2-4. We nearly opened the scoring on 2 minutes , when Upton's shot was tipped over. Chris Page then made a good low save. From the 20th minute to half time , we appeared the more likely team to open the scoring. However, NLO took the lead against the run of play. We equalised on 35 minutes, when Upton was upended and Paul Leslie smashed home the resulting penalty. We really took the game to NLO and came in with a tails up at half time.

We reverted to a 4-4-2, putting Sim Mitchell on the dangerous left winger and with Chris Chambers doing a splendid job on their dangerous right winger, all looked rosy. We played positive football and had many chances to open the lead. Unfortunately it was always likely that the next goal was going to be the all important one and NLO scored it, again very much against the run of play. We had a free kick at our end and we got hit on the break. Heads seemed to go down a little and despite both personal and positional changes, NLO scored a 3rd goal. The game ended 3-1 and we end up League Champions but with no cup success this season. Despite being down right now, the lads should be pleased and proud of their contributions this season. In comparison, to the  Barclays Premier League, not always the best teams reach or win cup finals!

NLO had some very quick and skillful individuals and that was probably the difference today.

 

Team: C.Page: Cruickshank, Okeefe, Mcdonald, Chambers: Forbes, A.Page, Mitchell: Upton, Hudson, Leslie: Subs: Burton (Hudson) Penhale (Forbes) Smith (Chambers) Raggatt, O.Leslie, Ashton.

 

Scorer: P Leslie

 

Man of the Match: Despite not being overworked, I thought Chris Page made some superb saves and has made an excellent contribution to the team since his arrival.