Round 16 Scotch vs Pembroke Saturday 23rd August 2008 A Grade Scotch 4 - 2 Pembroke Well again we kept to the tune of conceding a couple but at least scoring more!! After a very disappointing performance last week where we were only a shadow of our normal intensity and game play, it was pleasing to have such a dominating performance against a team that started the day equal on points. The first half was a cagey affair with both sides changing blows mostly in the midfield, with only a couple of uninspiring chances falling to both teams. We were definitely getting on top by the end of the half and Pembroke looked glad when the whistle blew. We carried this intensity and momentum into the 2nd half and started with a blaze of glory with two goals in the opening 15 minutes. Both went to Chrissa from midfield, the first a delicate cip into the top right corner from 10 yards, and the second a clinical and powerful strike across the keeper. Both were from great interchange play and from hard running from Chrissa to make position. Soon after this we fell asleep at the back post and conceded a clever header that looped over Gazza in goals from a long ball in. Welly then got our next two, both from wonderful through balls (especially the 2nd from Matty!!) on fast counter attacks that had him out pace two defenders and put it across the keeper clinically both times!! Nice to have you back in the team mate! Over all a toughly fought match for both teams, but we made the most clean cut chances and the our dominating defensive and midfield pressure finally wore through Pembroke in the 2nd half. Now all we need is to win against Uni White this week and have Uni Black to us a HUGE FAVOUR!!!! and knock off Mercedes to bring the league down to the final match of the season!! C'mon Uni Black!!!!!! :o) B Grade Scotch 0 -6 Pembroke The olde "20 minute curse" came back to haunt us again today, where for the majority of the game we were 1-0 down, until 5 goals in a 20 minute 2nd half patch obviously destroyed our chances!!!! Again very consistent performers were Baby James Catton, Quento and Paulie, but as a team we need to continue working on our communication and organisation especially. In the end though a very dominating performance by Pembroke, especially in the 2nd half, and a very good lesson for us on how to make the most of goal chances and goal pressure, as in the 1st half we had 3 definite goal chances that if we snagged on of them it may well have been a very different story!!

Round 15 Scotch vs Unley Saturday 16th August 2008 A Grade Scotch 2 - 3 Unley In what was our most important game of the season so far, we were unfortunately very flat and considerably outplayed for the majority of the game. A win would have put us 6 pts above Unley and put them out of the title race, however the loss unfortunately puts us even on points and lower down the table on goals. The first half saw Unley attack the game with incredible intensity and had us looking unorganised and flustered for atleast the first 30 minutes, especially through our midfield. Again our boggy pitch made it difficult to play continuous posessional football for both teams, but ironically aided Unley in their 1st goal as the ball skidded awkwardly past two of our defenders into the path of the Unley forward who to his credit finished very neatly. It took until the last five seconds of the half for us to have a real threat, that luckily had Rooney finishing brilliantly lobbing the keeper from 20 yards following a fortuitous long ball from Johnny. 1-1 at the break. The 2nd half had us atleast looking more competitive and threatening, controlling probably 25minutes of the half and putting some pressure on the Unley defense. With 10 minutes to go it was 2-2, following a penalty to Unley then a scrappy Scotch goal following a free kick goal mouth scramble. In the closing minutes both teams were pushing and fighting hard, and it was unfortunate (for us!!) that Unley had the knock-out blow when a tepid shot somehow found the back of the net from about 15 yards. On the whole though Unley showed much more organisation and intensity over the 90 minutes and created the majority of chances. It was disappointing that we unfortunately were very flat and played far from our normal standard as a team, with our most positive performers being Rooney and Eirik. One positive from the game was that we could play so poorly and still be close to getting a result. Chin up though!! Three wins and a result to go our way and we are still in with a big shout!! B Grade Scotch 1 -4 Unley At 1-1 at the half and following several great chances and having rode our luck quite well, we were hoping that a shock result may be on the cards if we could hold it together for the whole 90 minutes. As the score reads, obviously we couldn't!! We were over run in the final 25 minutes by a fitter and much more experienced team that proved their worth for being at the top of the table. An honorable mention to Catton for a great individual performance, and a very big welcome back to some original Scotch OCSC founders Haydos and Marcus to the team following a long absence. Welcome back boys!!!

Scotch College OCSC End Of Year Dinner Saturday September 27th 7pm The Arkaba Hotel Players and Partners $40 three course meal

Cup Quarter Finals Scotch vs Grads Red Saturday 9th August 2008 Scotch 4 - 1 Grads Red Overall a very dominating performance all over the park and a scoreline that could have been at least double if not for some amazing saves from the Red's keeper, who by far was their best player on the day. Following a frustrating year with injuries for Rooney, he rebounded very nicely with his return to the team with a hatrick, and Johnny grabbed our final goal from the penalty spot. The game was very open and played in a very physical manner, with the incredibly boggy and muddy Scotch pitch not helping either team. Matty ran riot down the wing all day and the Red's had no answer for his pace with the ball, and was rewarded with the assists for all three of Rooney's goals. Maxie was very similar on the right. Our midfield trio was dominant all day and worked tirelessly and kept our control on the game, and our defensive line was very strong and organised and conceded only via a penalty following an unfortunate slip into a Red's attacker in the mud. It was good to get in the goals again and get a more even team effort following the disappointing league loss last week, and it was important to get Chrissa and Rooney back in the team this week. Another positive was the way we kept our work ethic up (except for a 5 minute patch where we started shooting from 40 yards!!) and kept cool heads when there were some terrible tackles going in and a lot of agro being shown by the Red's. With Welly, Brent, Danny and Paps still to come back in to the squad, it will be an important boost with a very tough run in to the end of the league in front of us. Nice game boys, very dominating win!!!!! (Ref's 3 votes) 3 votes: Rooney 2 votes: Johnny 1 vote: Dunsy

Round 14 Scotch vs Immanuel Saturday 2nd August 2008 A Grade Scotch 0 - 2 Immanuel For some reason Immanuel continue to be our bogey team, with two draws and two losses against them in the past two seasons. Credit to them where deserved though, they made the most of their limited chances and we were not clinical enough to find the back of the net. From the beginning of the day we knew and spoke about the fact it was going to be scrappy game due to the boggy pitch and our game history, as well as being forced into a few personnel changes due to injuries people away. On top of this two major injuries in the opening 15 minutes didn't help, but we still should have done better. Our nemesis of this year happened again where we hit the post, brought several great saves from the keeper and had a couple excellent chances in the opening 10 minutes but were unable to convert, then with Immanuel's first attack they went forward and scored. The remainder of the game had us creating most of the shooting, but not with our normal composure or conviction, and it was one of those days where it just wouldn't go in with goal line clearences, two major penalty claims denied and the woodwork getting a good workout. Credit though to Immanuels defensive effort getting numbers behind the ball, and to then catch us on the break with about 15 minutes to go as we were pushing hard. A big thankyou to Toby and Chan for playing a majority of the game when forced due to our injuries following a full game in the B's. The result definitely brings us back to reality after winning 7 in a row and will be a good wake up call leading into the cup quarter finals and the final run in for the league. Very exciting with the number of teams still in with a good chance!! 3 votes: Matty 2 votes: Geordie 1 vote: Maxie B Grade Scoch 2- 0 Immanuel Awesome result and thoroughly deserved boys!!! As we said when we get most of the first choice players on the pitch in the same day we have a very competitive team, and most pleasing of all was to see the fight we had as a team. The first half on the whole was fairly even, with Scotch having definitely the majority of the opening 20 minutes and Immanuel fighting back well to have the majority of the following 20 minutes. Our first goal came following a cracking run and shot from Catton that was well saved, with the ball falling to Marty, who coolly slotted it into the open net for his second for the year. We then gained a lot of confidence from that and continued to have the majority of chances in a game that was very open. It was pleasing to see that we didn't have our usual 20minutes lapse of concentration and concede a couple!! :o) The game was put to rest with a minute to play, when a penalty was awarded for deliberate hand ball on the line (very stiff to get sent off considering there was only a minute to go!!!) with Chan slotting the penalty to make it 2-0!!! Yeah!!!!! Well deserved guys, and its always a little easier to enjoy your saturday arvo's when you get on the winners sheet again!! 3 votes: Quento 2 votes: Catton 1 vote: Chan