Napoli beat Blue Birds to lift Lumveleni trophy

Napoli FC were crowned the champions of the Lumveleni Easter Soccer Tournament after defeating Manamani Blue Birds 1-0 in the final at the Ngudza Grounds last Sunday.

Their path to the final included a 6-1 victory over Ngudza Young Vultures in the semi-final game at the same venue two weeks prior.

The goal that secured Napoli's victory came via a substitute, Livhuwani Ramulongo, in the 76^th minute. He tried his luck with a volley from the 30-metre area. Blue Birds' goalkeeper, Khodani Matodzi, palmed the ball back into the net in an attempt to clear. After the goal, Napoli abandoned their positions to add numbers to their defence and relied on counter-attacks.

Napoli were presented with R14,000 and a floating trophy during the prize-giving ceremony. Manamani Blue Birds received R7,000 as runners-up. Blue Birds had previously defeated Musasenda Big Five 5-3 in their semi-final match to secure a place in the final.

The third-placed team, Musasenda Big Five, was awarded R4,000. Big Five had defeated Ngudza Young Vultures 3-0 in the losers’ final match, which was played at the same venue before the final game. Ngudza Young Vultures received R2,000 during the ceremony.

The general manager of Lumveleni Restaurant, Mr Dan Ndou, could not hide his happiness during the ceremony. He expressed satisfaction with the organization of the tournament and revealed plans to stage another tournament during the offseason. According to him, the tournament will be the biggest ever in terms of sponsorship amount and the number of participating teams.

Date:26 April 2024

By: Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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