Manavhela crowned as the champions

Manavhela Masters were crowned as the champions of the Kutama Masters Tournament when they beat Makhitha Masters 7-6. The winners were determined by penalty shoot-out, after the two teams played to 1-all draw. The match took place at the Makhitha grounds on Sunday.

Manavhela were good at the far back. Their midfielders hesitated for too long and did not release the ball on time for their goal poachers. The Makhitha lads initiated some promising moves from the centre of the pitch but were denied several scoring opportunities by the good defence of Manavhela. The closest Makhitha came to scoring was when Funi Thonga tried his luck from outside the box. The keeper of Manavhela made his presence felt when he palmed the ball away for a corner kick.

Manavhela continued to control proceedings, but their strikers let them down by shooting aimlessly from close range. Manavhela were the first to draw blood after a defender of the home team failed to clear the ball. Makhitha equalised through Leonard Manganyi, who beat two defenders in a row. The half-time score was still 1-1.

Manavhela came back strongly in the second half, but Makhitha's keeper, Solly Ndou, denied them a goal when he fisted Ace Sadiki´s volley away. Manavhela enjoyed more ball possession, but their promising moves were turned into disappointment due to the solid defence of Makhitha.

Date:02 June 2017

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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