In a closely contested Makana Local Football Association match at Fiddler's Green recently, Makana Rhini United football club (Maru) beat Newtown City, keeping them at the top of the log in Stream B.
In a closely contested Makana Local Football Association match at Fiddler's Green recently, Makana Rhini United football club (Maru) beat Newtown City, keeping them at the top of the log in Stream B.
Maru made it clear from the start that they were intending to take the three league points home with them. Maru hungrily attacked a couple of times to go for an early goal, but couldn't score right in the beginning. It wasn't long, though, before the ball was headed to a striker from the midfield, and found its way into the net.
Newtown City tried to launch a counter-attack, but the opposition's defence was solid and Maru ended up scoring their second goal. Then a Newtown City attack lead to a Maru defender handling the ball inside the box, which resulted in a penalty that Newtown converted into their first goal of the match.
During the second half, Maru nearly scored a goal to extend their lead, but the Newtown City goalkeeper was on top form and blocked it. Both sides attacked fiercely and nobody was keen to concede another goal, until Maru finally extended their lead to 3-1.
Although Maru now seemed back in the driving seat, Newtown City scored one last goal before the end of the match, bringing the final score to 3-2. Maru may be at the top of the second stream for now, but they have one more match, against Young Stars, before the end of the season.
The match will be at Fiddler's Green tomorrow, starting at 9.30am. After the weekend it remains to be seen who will be the victors of Stream A and B and who will ultimately be the champions in this season's Makana league. The current leaders in Stream A are Mighty Chiefs, who will face Chelsea at 12.30pm tomorrow at Fiddler's Green in their final league match.
According to Ayanda Kota, president of the Makana LFA, the winners of the two streams will face each other on Saturday 21 April to determine the league winners for the 2011/2012 season. A number of matches will be played during the course of the day, with the final scheduled for 3pm.
The winner of the Makana LFA will then take part in the play-offs of the South African Football Association (Safa) Cacadu, SAB league. The play-offs will be against other LFA winners. The overall winner will then take part in a promotion/relegation match for a spot in the Cacadu league.
Two Grahamstown clubs are currently part of the Cacadu league – City Pirates and Eleven Attackers. Attackers are near the bottom of the log and could face relegation. Malibongwe Maxhawulana is an independent citizen journalist for Grocott's Mail.
