By Chris Totobela
The Kay Motsepe U19 schools tournament took place in a packed JD Dlepu Stadium in Joza on Saturday.
Different municipalities’ winners locked horns, with Makana represented by local champions Nombulelo Secondary School.
In the first semi-final game, Nqweba Secondary School from Dr Beyers Naude, defeated St Collins from Sunday’s River.
Velile Secondary School from Bathurst gave away a one-goal lead against Makana’s Nombulelo Secondary School in the second semi-final, but emerged victorious after a controversial penalty. The first assistant referee raised his flag and ordered a retake after the Nombulelo goalminder had initially saved the spot kick, citing that the keeper had moved off his line before the kick was taken. The retake was scored.
The home side felt hard done by and believed that the keeper made a legitimate save.
In the final, Nqweba took on Velile. The game was a bit scrappy in the early stages of the first half with both teams struggling to put the foot on the ball. Velile settled quicker and started to spray passes around the field with Nqweba absorbing the pressure, hoping to catch them on transition. And it nearly worked on several occasions but their front men seemed indecisive in the last third.
Velile took the lead with a well taken set-piece just outside the box. The grass cutter caught the keeper napping and could only watch as the ball whizzed past him, into the back of the net.
In the second half, Nqweba started pushing forward and looked more dangerous but were denied by several superb saves from the opposing goalminder. Velile held on to their single goal until the final whistle.
Controversial incidents almost marred the final. In the first instance, serious questions were raised when the referee failed to send off a player who intentionally stamped on an opponent who was lying on the ground.
Another questionable refeering decision involved the Nqweba player who was previously stamped on retaliated, who made a potentially bone-crunching tackle on an opponent. It was a miracle that the fouled Velile player did not break his leg. To much shock and disapproval, the referee awarded the free kick to the perpetrator instead of the fouled player. The incidents led to chaos and at one point the head coach of Nqweba and the referee nearly came to blows.
The coach spoke to Grocott’s Mail after the game. “Firstly, I would like to apologize to the football fraternity for allowing my emotions overcome me. Congratulations to Velile Secondary School and I wish them all the best in the provincial games.
“I think the referee who officiated in this final was very poor and it is not the first time that the team I coach loses in this manner with him on the helm. I don’t know why he is still on the refereeing panel because you can see that the man cannot handle the game. He lacks a simple basic skill of refereeing which is to keep your eyes on the action until the end, which is why he missed that red card incident and even after being informed by his assistant, he failed to send off the player.”
However, responding to the allegations of poor officiating, Makana LFA secretary Akhona Heshu, said: “Firstly football is an emotional game, and my referees were spot on. It happens more often [that]when coaches are losing, they tend to shift the blame to match officials, and it’s always the case, we can’t help it.”
The winning coach, Andile “Ace” Marasi, meanwhile, thanked his boys for showing character throughout the tournament, and is hoping for a good showing in the provincial tournament that is coming up on 3 August in East London.
AB Bukani and Vusumzi primary schools will represent the Sarah Baartman district in the boys and girls’ U13 respectively in the coming provincial tournament.
