By Chris Totobela
Makhanda’s football lovers braved last weekend’s cold weather and made their way to JD Dlepu Stadium.
On show was the Kay Motsepe Schools u19 tournament.
Nombulelo, TEM Mrwetyana, Kutliso Daniels, Ntsika and Mary Waters secondary schools all took part in the competition, which was under the auspices of Makana LFA.
According to Makana LFA secretary Akhona Heshu, Nyaluza withdrew from the tournament while Alicedale’s Hendrick Kanise made the trip to Makhanda but did not have the required documents for the players and were therefore unable to participate.
All participating players had to produce identity documents before each and every game.
Speaking to Grocott’s Mail, Heshu explained: “The rules were clear and all the schools came to the tournament knowing exactly what the rules were regarding identity documents. Hendrick Kanise were aware of the rules and it surprised me when they pitched up without the correct documents.”
On Saturday, teams played in a round robin system and were divided into two groups. The top two from each group proceeded to the semi finals which took place on Sunday.
In the first semi final, Nombulelo thrashed Ntsika by five goals to book a spot in the final showdown. In the second semi final game, Khutliso absorbed a lot of pressure from TEM Mrwetyana and caught them with a sucker punch with less than 20 minutes left in the game.
The stage was set for a great final between Nombulelo and Khutliso Daniels. In the first half both teams struggled to string a few passes due to the wind that was blowing across the field and they also went to the halftime break with a goalless stalemate.
It was only late in the second half that they started going forward with purpose more often. Nombulelo’s star player Liyahluma Mawaba opened the scoring from a corner kick that he squeezed through and that was spotted late by the keeper as his box was crowded and had his view slightly blocked.
Khutliso started pushing forward looking for an equaliser but were caught with a great transition that was finished off by the hard running Entle Bhangushe, to double Bulie’s lead. Luyolo Matiwane reduced the deficit from the restart when he took a long range shot from the halfway line that caught the keeper napping as he was still trying to go back to his position.
Khutliso missed a glorious opportunity to draw level in the dying minutes of the game but had to settle for runners-up spot as Nombulelo were crowned Makana champions. Nombulelo will now represent Makana in the upcoming district competition that will take place on 27 July here in Makhanda.
