Scott DeBianchi was a snake in the grass all game for the Westwood Sports Pub.
The guys from Mr. Jake's Steakhouse knew the 26-year-old striker would be a thorn in their quest for the North Cariboo Senior Soccer League Open Division championship trophy but failed to prevent him from scuttling their plans.
After being denied any reason to celebrate for 65 minutes of Saturday's 90-minute final at North Cariboo Field, DeBianchi got what he was after when he accepted a long breakaway pass from Matt Vandenberg and raced in alone to deposit a low shot beyond the reach of Mr. Jake's goalie John Richards.
Nine minutes later, Richards had trouble handling Jared Dillabaugh's free kick and fell to the turf while surrounded by DeBianchi and two other orange sweaters and the ball bounced into the net to cap the scoring in a 2-0 Westwood victory.
"They played well and it was a good game in the first half and I think our fitness showed in the second half," said DeBianchi. "If you keep fit that's 70 per cent of soccer. After the first goal went in, it opened things up and it was nice to get that second one. We've always had a rivalry with those guys and it seems like every year they have a good team."
Mr. Jake's players thought DeBianchi was offside but the referee made the right call and their protests fell on deaf ears as he took the pass just across midfield.
"I was looking at the line and I saw a defender there so I kept going ," said DeBianchi.
Mr. Jake's had a great chance to open the scoring at the 32-minute mark on a hard 40-yard drive from Sukhan Sapun. The shot eluded Westwood goalie Jakob Kort but Vandenberg jumped and used his forehead to deflect the ball.
Early in the game, DeBianchi's was denied a sure goal by a hand save from Richards. Westwood forward Matt Jubinville nailed the crossbar 12 minutes into the second half after a left-foot feed from DeBianchi.
Determined aggression from Mr. Jake's forwards Sapun, Tim Apa and Sam Baturseh and a couple of troublesome long balls from midfielder Andrew Seabrook kept the Westwood defence busy in the second half trying to preserve the lead but there weren't many rebound scraps left behind in Kort's crease.
"It was good game but we had a couple lapses on defence and they were a little bit better all over the field," said Mr. Jake's midfielder Mark Schomberg. "I can't fault the guys for the effort they put out today."
Westwood topped the regular season standings with a 15-1-2 record, while Mr. Jake's (12-3-5)claimed second. Westwood came into the game with a 1-0-3 regular season record head-to-head against Mr. Jake's.
In the 30-plus division, playoff final Chris Rowland scored the only goal to lift Assante/Splash United FC to a 1-0 win over Powerhouse. Pete Brbot earned the shutout for Assante/Splash.
Meanwhile, in the 45-plus division final, Craig Christie and Stu Graham each scored two goals to give the Gunners a 4-2 win over Subway. Roger Dindayal and Derrick Underwood were the Subway marksmen.
