Charlestown 2 - 1 Muswellbrook

Well haven't we made it a lot more difficult for ourselves... That being said, last night was one of the best games of football I have been involved in this year. Football is such a funny game, we play awful against Medowie and Merewether and pickup two wins. Put in one of our best team performances of the year and come up short, but in the end that's football. IMO Mussy were definitely the better team in the first period. Created plenty of chances, playing through Charlie's midfield time after time and exposing their wide areas, but again a mixture wastefulness in front of goal, scrambling defense and decent goalkeeping proved detrimental as we only took a one goal lead in at the break. Despite this, Charlie weren't by any means no shows in the first half with Chris their striker looking dangerous everytime he was in possession and was definitely the most likely to create something for them. We just about dealt with him but restricting him to a couple of half chances from range, Charlie's biggest threats being set-pieces and were happy to go into half-time with a clean-sheet and a slim lead.

Second half continued in the same vein, Mussy playing well, Charlestown keeping well in it and threatening from set pieces without really having any clear cut chances in open play. I can't remember the sequence of events exactly but basically in a 10 minute period Charlestown scored from the scraps of a corner and Mussy missed a penalty to seal it. This changed everything. Charlestown looked a lot sharper with their tails up and pushed for the win, Mussy looked a bit leggy possibly from the 3 games in 6 days but regardless it is no excuse, we shouldn't have the lead slip. The final period was pretty end to end, both teams hoping for the winner, which Charlestown grabbed in the last minute of regulation time. Again Mussy not clearing their line from a corner, Charlie picking up the scraps. Game over.

A note on the ref. Hands down the best we have had all season, I don't if he made a wrong call all night, I wish we could have him every game. Similarly the club ref that did the ressies game, thought he was top notch. End of the day big congrats to Charlestown on securing their finals spot, they battled hard all game and took advantage when we dropped our guard in the second half, doing just enough in their defensive third to keep us out as well. Well played guys and you well and truly deserve your finals place. I think Charlestown are a generally solid team, sprinkled with some real quality that makes the difference. I enjoy that they try to play a decent brand of football as well, with both teams attempting to play a passing style last night it was really enjoyable to play and from speaking to a few neutrals, was a great game to watch. Hard to swallow as I think our boys played really well too, just one of those games where Charlie wanted it that little more and showed a little more desperation. There was a bit of niggle during the game, but when its a high-stakes match like last night was, as if it wasn't going to be competitive and have a little bit of fire. I think there is a fair bit of respect between the two clubs but and after the whistle both teams shook hands and the sportsmanship was great.

So it all comes down to the last round, heaps to play for and it should be an absolute cracker!