As the local football season heads towards its climax, another round of exciting matches in the Makana LFA Premier League and First Division kicked off on Saturday and Sunday at Extension 7, Fiddlers Green and the JD Dlepu Stadium. MATTHEW PETERSEN filed this report from the Jacaranda Aces vs New Seekers game.
In a match played in very windy conditions, Jacaranda Aces and New Seekers kicked off in the 3 pm game at JD Dlepu Stadium.
Aces started the match brightly and took the lead in the first 10 minutes through Sixolile Koliti, who used his pace to get in behind the New Seekers defence and finish past the goalkeeper.
As the half wore on, the teams had to adjust to playing in such tricky conditions, and New Seekers should have levelled the game but narrowly put their effort past the post. From the resulting change in possession, Aces were clinical with their next attack, and some fancy footwork in the box from Athenkosi Mnyobe saw him beat two defenders and score for his side’s second goal of the game.
Aces could have had a third before half-time, but the New Seekers keeper denied them brilliantly.
New Seekers made a bright start to the second half playing a lot more directly to try and get themselves back into the game. Still, they ultimately failed to score, and their defence was caught napping as Sixolile Koliti sprinted through on goal and lobbed the ball over the rushing keeper to make the score 3–0 to Aces.
Less than five minutes after that goal, defender Ayabulela Bennie scored a header from an Aces corner to put his team 4–0 up with over 30 minutes left to play.
As New Seekers pushed on in search for a goal in the windy conditions, Aces started to ease the pressure and play some breathtaking and skilful football, staying calm and making sure they didn’t let their lead slip.
With 10 minutes left in the game, Mnyobe played the ball through to Koliti to complete his hat-trick, with Aces showing their dominance from start to finish to complete a 5–0 victory.
Jacaranda Aces completed a fantastic double-header this past weekend by defeating Cameroon 6–1 on Sunday to cement their place at the top of the table with only a few games left of the season. The weekend results are below:
WEEKEND RESULTS
Saturday 28 August
Premier League:
Grahamstown United 0 – 0 Newtown City
Jacaranda Aces 5 – 0 New Seekers
Rhodes University 3 – 4 Young Eagles
First Division:
Makana Tigers 3 – 1 Makana Celtics
African Spears 1 – 2 Lalibela Lions
Pioneers 12 – 1 Mighty Chiefs
Sunday 29 August
Premier League:
Joza Callies 0 – 3 New Seekers
Jacaranda Aces 6 – 1 Cameroon
Grahamstown United 0 – 2 Love and Peace
First Division:
Golden Brothers 2 – 3 Makana Tigers
Black Stars 2 – 0 Santos
Lakhenathi 6 – 1 Mighty Chiefs
Source: Makana Football Association Facebook page
About the journalist
My name is Matthew Petersen, and I am a Postgraduate Diploma student at the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University. I am keenly interested in sports and sports journalism, and I aim to produce informative stories that serve the community.
You can contact me at matthewpetersen4@gmail.com
