Opening batsman Matt Jefferd's 45 in the first meeting, Jason Lines's last-ball lofted drive for four and opener Glen Udall's 48 all enabled the blue-and-whites to come up trumps on those three days.
Everything points to the penultimate game of the season being a thriller.
OBR paceman Lloyd van Zyl deputised for noted all-rounder Christophers last Saturday, but the latter's experience as a leader at all levels of Poverty Bay club cricket (plus the presence of two hard-hitting batsmen in Heinrich Putter and Thom Berry) will be significant for defending champions OBR.
HSOB have Udall, John Phelps, Yegan Lanka and Needham as batsmen capable of making runs when the pressure is on, while Nathan Quimpo (17, batting at No.5) and Olly Tilley (19, at No.7) proved a week ago that Presidents don't lack for middle-order grit.
Leg-spinner Quimpo, off-spinner Simon Blaker and left-arm orthodox spinner Tom Crosby lend variety to the Presidents' bowling attack in this 1 v 4 showdown.
Needham said: “We're raring to go, and excited about the opportunity to play in a semifinal against a very good OBR team.”
Efforts to contact Christophers had been unsuccessful at the time of going to print but he will doubtless have an eye on all factors — from weather to personnel — ahead of the semifinals.
Both teams in the 2 v 3 semifinal can play great cricket.
Horouta Te Waka captain and off-spinner Mel Knight made 52 not out and took 3-10 against Campion College in Round 15. That 46-run win, the granite foundation of which was opener Stanley Blake's 32, has The Waka in good nick ahead of the teams' third clash for the season.
Of the 11 games played in this Senior B competition, HSOB Presidents have won 10 (they began on October 29 with a tie), Horouta eight, the Civil Project Solutions Ngatapa Green Caps six, OBR five, Campion two and Round 1 leaders Gisborne Boys' High School (2) one.
Te Waka beat the Green Caps by seven wickets in Round 8 on December 17. Washed out were clashes scheduled for Round 3 on November 12 and Round 13 three weeks ago.
This may be a matter of unfinished, winner-take-all business: Ngatapa's chance to balance the ledger and get through, Horouta's opportunity to make it two wins from two games against the same opposition.
Knight and her fellow offie Blake were good value on the representative wicket in the last game of the round-robin. Grace Levy, Billy Morse and James Craig are well-performed, steady medium-pacers.
Arrayed against them are Ngatapa skipper Ryan West — bowling spearhead and a match-winning all-rounder — and two quality offies in Charles Morrison and Jeremy Castles.
West, Morrison, Castles and gloveman Simon Wilson are also classy batsmen. The father-and-son duo of left-hander Richard Briant and his son Sam, who is coming off a score of 77no against GBHS (2), cannot be underestimated either.
These are level-headed men but gentlemen of iron will on the field of play. West holds that games against Horouta are always played in good spirit but that skipper Knight and her teammates can be tricky to haul in if they make starts with the bat.
Knight said: “We've had some really good results during this half of the season. Everyone's keen for us to try to make it to the final.”
The Senior B Grade semifinals will have as their umpires this weekend Northern Districts official Jason Trowill and his regular premier grade counterpart Stewart Patrick.
Both are noted for their unobtrusive presence on the field of play.
