By Chris Totobela
All roads led to the Rhodes Upper Prospect field on 8 and 9 July where the Makana LFA Premier League champions would be crowned. Two on-form teams, Sophia Stars and Young Eagles, clashed, and at stake was the premier league title and promotion to the SAB Regional League.
On 8 July, a decent crowd braved the cold weather and turned up for the first leg of the two-legged play-offs. The game started at a high pace with both teams playing long balls to their frontmen. It was a scrappy affair as both teams looked nervous and anxious due to stage fright.
They both abandoned their respective styles of play as both teams are well known for playing the ball on the ground using speed and effective wing play instead they both used route one style of play. Poor officiating added salt to the wound of football lovers who came to see a good brand of football but were treated to a ‘skop and jaag’ game. In the 13th minute, the referee chickened out when a Sophia Stars player dished out a reckless tackle on the Eagles player and showed no intention of playing the ball but got away with just a verbal warning.
As expected, soon after that tackles flew from all over the field and an Eagles player constantly delayed the progress of the game but still got away with it. There were a number of wrong calls from the assistant referees which at times needed the intervention of the man in the middle. Eagles dominated the first half but wasted a couple of opportunities to take the lead. Both teams went to the halftime break goalless.
Sophia Stars fought their way back into the game in the second half and created a few chances at scoring but fumbled when it mattered most. The game finished goalless and had to do it all over again the following day. On 9 June, football fans once again braved wet and chilly weather to see who would be crowned champions. Both teams started the game cautiously using the same tactic of long balls and at times it looked like we were watching a tennis game. Sophia Stars had the better of the early exchanges and forced Eagles to defend but failed to convert their chances. Eagles fought back towards the end of the first half and created chances but Stars’ goalminder was equal to the task. It was goalless at halftime.
It was only four minutes into the second half when Eagles midfielder played a brilliant defence-splitting pass that caught Sophia’s defence napping and found their left winger who took a good shot at goal but the keeper made a good save while pushing the ball into the path of Sivuyise Spellman who slotted the ball home to give Eagles the lead. Sophia made a few substitutions and took the game to Eagles. They resorted to their original style of play and looked dangerous. They forced Eagles to defend deep into their half and missed a glorious opportunity in the dying seconds of the game when Inga Madyo ran into a long through pass unmarked and instead of heading the ball into the net chose to chest it wide at goal with only the keeper to beat.
The referee blew the final whistle, with the Eagles winning by a single goal and being crowned Makana LFA premier league champions, gaining promotion to the regional league. Young Eagles coach Mxolisi “Bash” Dlangazele praised his charges, saying “My boys fought very hard and they deserved to win. I do not want to say much about poor officiating. I think we had a lot of chances to kill the game but did not use them. I agree that we did not play our normal game as we wanted to win badly, and sometimes you have to play badly in order to win. I’m so proud of my boys”.
He also commented on their promotion to the SAB Regional League, saying “We are not going there to add numbers, but to compete. I don’t think there is a need to beef up our squad as we have a very good team that has been together since under 13s.”
Goal scorer Sivuyise Spellman said he was over the moon. “I told them that I was going to score and my teammates did not believe me. Now I have scored a winning goal that takes my team to the higher league”.
Man of the match and Eagles’ right back, Athenkosi Thwani, thanked his coaching staff. “I think we knew what we wanted from this game. I would like to thank my teammates, coaches, management, and our fans for believing in us”.
Many people who watched the game complained about poor officiating in both games. Responding to these complaints, Makana LFA general secretary Akhona Heshu told Grocott’s Mail that the referees were the best they could get. “These referees were the ones who officiated the whole season. The SAB referees have the tendency of boycotting our LFA games and only want to officiate in the regional league games. We are going to make sure that this comes to an end. If they don’t want to officiate in our local league, there is no way that they will officiate in the regional league,” he said.
Sophia Stars’ director of sport, Thulani Msipha, congratulated the Eagles. “As much as it is hard to digest, I would like to wish Young Eagles all the best. My boys fought very hard but there had to be a winner at the end of the day. We will learn from this setback and move on”.
Makana LFA chairman Afika Adam also congratulated the winners. “I’m happy for their coach who is so passionate about the development of young players. I remember how he started with these boys at a younger age”, said Adam, who did not want to comment on allegedly poor officiating, saying that this would be looked into by the relevant structures.
Young Eagles now need to start preparing for the Regional League as soon as possible. They also need to play a few friendly games against the SAB Regional League teams to test their strength. They have a very good and young team but the Regional League is no child’s play as has been proven by the other three local teams that are part of that league. The LFA needs to produce young and energetic referees and hold referee clinics to help equip them with the necessary skills. It is not acceptable to have poor officiating in a game of this calibre where there is a lot at stake.
