Ah, the Annandale Hotel. You want live music? Here 'tis. There's also top tucker at the Nosh Pit, the Locals Club is going bananas with giveaways, there are classic tacky movies from The Sounds of Sinema, a trivia comp on Tuesdays and, all in all, it's the best pub atmosphere to be found in Sydney. For a full rundown of weekly activities at the Annandale, click on the image below -

After boarding an airplane and heading back from high altitude training, I found the Rovers boys seriously contemplating what was required for that magical Semis berth. Battle tactics were drawn up for a 3-0 up scenario. The team was ready - the team was hot!

Unfortunately the opposition was elusive and called for a 10 minute pre-game breather. Rob ‘I can have a pre-game smoke and score more goals than you’ Liney was left in limbo, having gone into the unfamiliar territory of not having scored a goal in the last game and wondering whether the Golden Boot was made for another foot.

The game kicked off. All was looking good. The Rovers boys were knocking the ball around nicely. The 3-0 battle plan was looking like a real possibility - when disaster struck. After conceding an innocuous free kick, Canterbury played to their strength and chipped the free kick in to their tall timber who nodded the ball goalwards. 0-1 - not the start we were looking for. Their tall timber was looking dangerous. Ricky ‘I get to man mark anyone over 6 feet’ Onsman assigned himself to the danger man and shut him out for the rest of the game.

Not looking backward - only forwards - Rob managed to grab the first of his handful of goals. The first came, then the second. We were looking on track. Bruce ‘Bondi’ Fackerell was looking a little rusty in the center of defence and Canterbury fought back to level it 2-2 going into half time.

Half-time, time to refocus - time to grab a smoke???? We moved back out on to the sun-baked pitch. Corner to them. Goal to them! What was going on? James ‘long throw’ Mackie decided to take matters into his own hands and use his head, rising majestically above a goalmouth pack to nod the ball firmly into the net. 3-3. A fourth followed, and a fifth.

Pier ‘I scored the best goal of the season’ D’Angelo, tireless in the midfield, must have been shocked to see a screamer from Rob challenge as goal of the year. Don’t worry Pier - you still have my vote.

And in what can only be described as a nice finishing touch, Joey (escaping goal duty) rounded off the scoring with a cracking ... um, cross. Nice to see a defender score.

Final score: 7-3 Bring on the Semis! Great to be back in the team.

And the Pele points go to:

Every game the Firsts play seems to be getting harder and harder, no matter the quality of the opposition. Keeping the unbeaten status in the league is, I believe, harder than looming last on the table. The reason is you have to maintain the standard that has been set early in the season through to the end. On top of that you have teams which we met in the first round coming out stronger and hungrier for the second leg. Canterbury is one of those teams. Currently lingering third on the ladder, they were keen to show the league leaders how much they've improved.

The line-up for today's game started with the Rock (Browny) in goal. Rovers have been lucky this year to have the availability of makeshift keepers who have turned out to be just as good or even better than if we had proper keepers. In defence on the left we had "can only run straight line" Matt Linton. On the right, "OK I'm getting back" Matt Clementson. In the centre of defence there was "free ski equipment hire" Paul Macdonnell and sweeper "listen to my authority" Nick Hopkins. In right mid it was "run all day" Patrick Nolan, left mid " better hairdos than David Beckham" Dean Da Silva. In centre mid position we have "Rottweiler dog tamer" Martin Hofman. Beside him was the regular captain "when will we ever learn" Paul Edwards and "there goes the hammy" Andy Farmery. Up front was a momentous occasion for a loved Balmain Rovers son, "weee weee masseur" Ammon Mackie. This is Ammon's last match for the season as he will be Bon Voyaging to Vive la France to continue his chosen career. We wish him all the best over in France.

First half saw chances fall to both sides. Eddie was unlucky after letting the ball bounce and volleying with the outside of his boot making the ball swerve past the post. Canterbury's striker was also fed through a couple of times with Browny being able to stop them from going one up. In the 35th minute of the match a cross from Balmain and an unsuccessful clearance enabled Martin to caress the ball onto the right post, it in turn bounced back, hit the keeper and into the goal. 1-0 to Balmain. Due to past performances it was an uncharacteristic goal for Canterbury's keeper to concede. That goes to show how pressure packed this game actually was.

In the second half Paul came on for Martin and Kon for Andy. Canterbury showed some glimmer of hope but relied too much on a Rivaldo-like shot from outside the box, which never came. Rovers defence stood firm and proud. Patrick somehow found a way through the Canterbury defence and then squandered a one-on-one chance with the keeper. That seemed to be the last clear-cut opportunity created by Balmain due to fatigue setting in. Both sides were feeling the heat from the sun of a beautiful winter day in Sydney. Canterbury had one last chance to draw the game in the dying seconds due to a lapse of concentration by the Balmain defence. A one-on-one opportunity with the keeper was scrambled away to the lines after a weak shot at goal.

The game finished 1-0 in favour of Balmain leaving them still unbeaten and favourites for the title. Overall it was a tough, well-mannered game - apart from the incident in the last five minutes involving a crude tackle on Paul Millard. I must say from previous encounters with Canterbury it was a joy to play.

The Pele points go to: