ORANGEVILLE FLYERS Sheldon Pinkney is momentarily held up by the Oakville defense in Tri-County Midget AA championship action at the Alder Street arena on Saturday. Photo/MIKE MALONEY They had to go the distance but it was a journey well worth taking for the Midget AA Flyers as the team capped off their 2009- 10 season with the Tri- County crown, defeating Oakville 2-1 in the fifth and what would be final game of their championship series at the Alder Street arena on Monday night.

After having kicked off the series with a win on Wednesday March 10th and a 2-2 tie the following Sunday, the two squads found themselves back at the Alder Street arena this past Saturday for game three of the series.

Through much of the first, both teams would trade scoring opportunities but it was Orangeville's Dustin Burns who would toss one up and over the Oakville goaltender with 17 seconds remaining in the opening frame to give them the lead.

Early in the second, a sharp eyed Turner Gunn put a perfect pass onto the tapes of Travis Szabolics stick as he crossed centre and bore straight down the lane, snapping a wrist shot low to make it 2-0.

Five minutes later it was again Burns in on the scoring action, this time feeding a cross crease pass to a wide open Niall Caravello off the draw, widening the Flyers lead to three.

Third period action found Oakville pressing hard to get on the board but Orangeville's goal tender Lee Skwarek was more than up to the challenge turning away a number of golden opportunities for the Rangers.

Playing shorthanded with 4:22 remaining, Burns found himself in alone again after stealing the puck from an Oakville defender, and crossing from left to right, waited for Ranger goalie Nick Raycroft to commit before tossing one upstairs to make it 4-0.

Oakville however was not done yet, firing back with two goals of their own in the final

two minutes but that was all the offence they could muster with Orangeville posting a 4- 2 win at the final buzzer.

The Flyers had a chance to put away the series the next night playing in Oakville.

With their backs to the wall, the Rangers pulled out all the stops to keep their playoff hopes alive, coming out on top of a 4-3 overtime win and sending the series back to Orangeville for game five on Monday night.

Playing at home with the crowd behind them, the Flyers were more than ready to finish things off back at the Alder St rink.

Skating scoreless through the opening frame, Ryan Gunn opened the scoring for Orangeville on an unassisted marker at 8:14 before setting up Caravello with what would prove to be the game winner just 12 seconds later.

Oakville would keep things interesting, drawing to within one with 4:52 left to play in regulation time but the Flyers held their cool.

Even playing shorthanded for the final two minutes, Orangeville kept the Rangers out of scoring position, dumping the puck down the ice every chance they got until the victory was proclaimed once and for all by the final buzzer.