By Chris Totobela
The Kay Motsepe Schools Championship regional football tournament took place at JD Dlepu Stadium in Joza recently.
Different teams represented their respective municipalities in the hotly contested tournament in chilly weather conditions.
Makana was represented by Makhanda’s Ntsika Secondary School, with the home side making it all the way to the final and claiming the scalps of Nompucuko and Nqweba secondary schools along the way.
In the final, Ntsika came up against Sunday’s River’s champs and Addo-based Samkelwe Secondary School that earned a spot in the final after beating Johnson Nqonqoza Secondary.
The game started at a blistering pace with both teams attacking each other furiously, but the home side struggled to put the foot on the ball. Samkelwe kept Ntsika in their own half and the home side seemed to struggle with the pace of Samkelwe’s attacking trio who had one-on-ones with the keeper but wasted all the golden opportunities. The game swayed a little bit to the visitors who had the lion’s share of ball possession while Ntsika relied more on transition.
The first half ended goalless.
In the second half, both teams made a few substitutions trying to influence the game in their favour. Samkelwe tightened the screws, putting Ntsika under enormous pressure, but the home side’s defence stood firm.
However, they finally succumbed to pressure when their defence failed to deal with a dangerous run from the left side of defence and allowed Aviwe Duna to dribble past two defenders before passing the ball into the net, beating Ntsika’s goalminder in the near post.
Coming back from a goal down was always going to be a daunting task for the home side who seemed rattled by that late goal. Ntsika tried to press hard in search of an equaliser but it was too little too late as the final whistle blew.
Samkelwe’s coach Siyabulela Khunge spoke to Grocott’s Mail after the game. “I’m very happy with how my boys played. It was a very tough game but we knew that they were going to crack at some point as we put them under pressure from the first minute. We wanted it more and we are happy that we have achieved what we came here for. Credit to our opponents who played well and gave us a run for our money.”
Ntsika’s coach Thando Petros, meanwhile, was disappointed. “We played well but it was always going to be a game of margins and we made one mistake and got punished. Congratulations to Samkelwe – they played well and deserved to win. Credit to my boys – they gave their all but luck was not on our side today.”
It was a very good display from both sides and they gave the crowd an entertaining game of football, reminding football lovers of the olden days when school’s football was at the highest peak.
Credit to both Ntsika and Samkelwe who came out to play.
