The Nedbank Cup South African Football Association (Safa) Cacadu region kicked off in Grahamstown on Saturday. With the Nedbank Cup underway, the Cacadu league fixtures are put on hold until the Nedbank Cup has been concluded.
The Nedbank Cup South African Football Association (Safa) Cacadu region kicked off in Grahamstown on Saturday. With the Nedbank Cup underway, the Cacadu league fixtures are put on hold until the Nedbank Cup has been concluded.
The round robin matches were held in Grahamstown over the weekend, with local team Grocott's Mail Eleven Attackers hosting Teenagers from Kenton-on-Sea in one of the first round robin matches. Attackers would have thought they had an easy opportunity of making the Top Eight, facing Teenagers who are currently bottom of the log on the Safa Cacadu league.
The match took place in wet weather conditions at the Rhodes University King Field on Saturday afternoon. Attackers immediately took play into the Teenagers half and this is where they camped for the next ten minutes, which included an early shot on goal and a corner kick, both saved by the Teenagers keeper, as well as the vocal keeper given a warning by the ref.
After a few more attacks from the home side, Attackers' closest chance came from a striker who sliced past two defenders only for the keeper to save the shot. Teenagers took play into the Attackers half for the first time after 27 minutes when they were awarded a corner, which was followed by a free kick, but were both saved by Attackers keeper and the defenders. The first half ended with a last shot on goal by the Attackers, which went just wide of the target, 0-0.
While Attackers would have hoped for a similar half as the first, except to be able to finish off with goals, the Teenagers came out firing and almost took the game away from Attackers, who shared the ball play in the second half. Teenagers got their first real shots on target and spent more time attacking. One shot flew into the keeper who first fumbled the ball but managed to save on the second attempt after taking out a Teenagers defender as their were unsuccessful calls for a Teenagers penalty.
The Attackers keeper sent the ball deep into the Teenagers half, finding Philandi Lepile who had a great run and perfect finish as he shot the ball past the Teenagers keeper for a 1-0 Attackers lead. Attackers followed with with two more attempts at goal but were both saved by the keeper. Thirty minutes in, Teenagers returned to the Attackers' half, this time reaching the penalty box area where, after some fumbling by both teams, a Teenagers striker popped the ball over the line for the equaliser.
After fulltime the match ended in a 1-1 draw, meaning their would be extra time of 15 minutes a side as a winner needed to be determined for the Nedbank Cup Top Eight. The Attackers came up a more firing team as they went straight on attack. Their first shot on goal in the second minute by Lepile found the back of the net giving Attackers a 2-1 lead.
After nine minutes in the second half of extra time, a great pass by Attackers wing into the keeper's box area found the head of a diving Kwanele Mkalaza who finished off in style giving Attackers a 3-1 lead, which would be the final score of the Nedbank Cup knock out match as Eleven Attackers booked their spot in the Top Eight of the Nedbak Cup, which will be played at the Military Base sports field on Saturday. Attackers coach, Simphiwe Faxi said he was happy with his team's performance as he said it was not an easy match, “as it went into extra time”. He said his side played well against tough opponents.
