By Chris Totobela
On Saturday, March 9, football lovers packed JD Dlepu stadium to the rafters. On show was another Hollywood Bets regional league doubleheader, capped by a local derby between two old rivals. First up in the lunchtime kick-off, two teams on the opposite ends of the log table, Maru FC and City Pirates locked horns in a much-anticipated encounter, in front of a huge crowd.
Both teams started like a house on fire, taking the game to each other, but Maru had the better of the early exchanges, forcing the Pirates’ minder to come up with some superb reflexes and saves. Pirates used their counterattack very well and took long-range shots that troubled the Maru keeper, who looked a bit shaky at times. Pirates took the lead via a corner kick that the keeper and his defence failed to deal with accordingly. Lack of communication at the back led to Bahle Ndyolashe’s corner kick finding the back of the net. Maru responded immediately and equalised from the penalty spot, and both teams went into the halftime break level pegging.
In the second half, both teams made a few changes to their lineup, threw everything at each other, and displayed good attacking football, but both were guilty of passing the ball too much at times. Maru took the lead, and Pirates equalised straight from the restart via the boot of their left winger Aviwe “Hotto” Klaas, who outsprinted Maru’s defence before unleashing a thunderous ground shot that left the keeper for dead.
Maru tightened the screws and put Pirates under pressure, camping in their half and forcing them to make errors. But they were caught with a sucker punch when Bahle “Fakaza” Ndyolashe finished off a move that he started from midfield with a great shot to win the game for his team. What a great game of football in front of a packed Dlepu stadium.
Next up was another mouth-watering clash between the local side, Young Eagles, blowing hot and cold against Alicedale-based Friendly City. Eagles took the game to the visitors from the first whistle and forced their defence to make mistakes, and it was no surprise when they took the lead via the boot of Lucky Ncuthu, who tapped home from a close range in the 12th minute.
Friendly City fought their way back into the game, and having made a few first-half substitutions, were rewarded in the 33rd minute when they headed home from a corner kick that the home side failed to deal with. The teams went into the halftime break level.
Eagles continued where they left off and took the game to the visitors again in the second half, forcing them to defend, but they failed to capitalise on a spot kick in the 54th minute, missing the penalty.
In the 66th minute, Eagles retook the lead via the boot of veteran striker Olwethu Flek and soon after that, substitute Lubabalo Papu added to his team’s tally in the 68th minute.
Things got even worse for the visitors as one of their defenders was sent off in the 75th minute. Aurelio Frans rounded off the scoring with his team’s fourth goal to ensure they walked away with maximum points.
A great and entertaining game with a lot of flair and skill, with the loyal Dlepu crowd on top of their voices, applauding shibobos and tsamayas dished out by the home side. The Dlepu stadium crowd saw off both games, and the field remained packed until the last whistle.
