By: CHRIS TOTOBELA
On Saturday 13 April, all roads led to JD Dlepu stadium where local football lovers were treated to a feast of good football. First up were the Makana LFA’s first division games with some interesting encounters.
In the first game, Fingo United defeated Mighty chiefs by four goals to two. Sakhulutsha and Golden Brothers game did not take place as both teams failed to take the pitch. In the top of the table clash, Young Neighbours beat Grahamstown United by two goals to one in a very closely contested game which produced some fireworks.
In the main game of the day, local side Maru hosted Mighťy Forest from Port Alfred in their SAB league encounter. The game started with both teams pushing forward trying to gain an early advantage. The home side settled down much quicker and started piling more pressure on their opponents while creating good scoring chances. Maru came very close to finding an opener on numerous occasions.
The visitors also had chances of their own as they slowly grew into the game but the home side’s defence stood firm. The deadlock was finally broken when the visitor’s defence was caught napping, and Maru’s Vuyani Skeyi got between them and pushed the ball past an advancing keeper to give his side the lead. Mighty Forest fought back but still found it very difficult to break the stubborn home side’s defence.
They got a free kick on the left side of Maru’s defence a few metres away from the box and a fierce shot flew over the head of the keeper to level the score. Both teams went to the halftime break locked at one goal a piece.
In the second half, Maru wasted a lot of chances and could have easily scored five to six goals. Maru made some substitutions which immediately made an impact to the game. The game seemed to be heading for a draw with only ten minutes left in the game when a Olwethu Fleck produced a stunner just outside the box to restore the home side’s lead. While Mighty Forest were still shocked Libona Nondlwana came with another cracker that caught the visiting keeper with surprise to the delight of the home crowd that packed Dlepu. The referee blew the final whistle soon after that goal with Maru taking the maximum points with a 3 – 1 victory.
