Gulls swoop to keep their cup hopes alive
DEFENDING East London Central Local Football Association (LFA) Noel Mein Cup champions Seagulls, as well as Star of India and Buffalo City Sports Academy, are tipped as favourites to win the third edition of the Noel Mein Cup after securing their places in the quarterfinals of this cup competition at the North End Stadium, in East London at the weekend.
Seagulls once again had the better of Riverside in a repeat of last season’s cup final prevailing by a 2-1 margin in their crunch last-16 knockout cup tie, courtesy of a Mathew Haynes strike and an own goal while Mawethu Williams struck twice for Buffalo City Sports Academy in their hard-fought 2-1 win against Conquerors.
Star of India unveiled new signing Sachin Dawood from National First Division outfit Santos against Swaraj. Dawood did not disappoint as he produced a flawless performance in the heart of their defence to inspire his side to a comprehensive 3-0 win. It was, however, Star of India’s midfield talisman Ivandre Campbell who stole the show scoring on either side of halftime with Lunto Bobotjane also adding his name to the scoresheet.
In the other last-16 cup results, K-Way ended Leeds Masters’ fairytale run when they beat them 4-1; Saints thumped Napoli 4-0 through goals from Ryan Jooste, Keanu Perrins and Randall Sibuta (2); Leeds United edged Millan 2-1; Pride of India earned a 3-1 win against Parkside United courtesy of goals from Keith Bantom, Luke Groep and Luciano Alexander. Atlantic Spurs were superb in defeating Brothers of Peace by a 4-2 margin.
The quarterfinals, semifinals and final will be played this weekend at North End.
Despite not going all the way, Riverside Football Club did East London Central LFA and the North End football community proud by reaching the quarterfinals of the provincial inter-club Engen U18 tournament in Port Elizabeth before going down on penalties to the eventual winners of the tournament, Motherwell-based Shining Stars.
In their opening Group Four encounter, Riverside beat Thornhill United 4-0. Riverside were punished for fluffing a number of goal-scoring opportunities against Chippa United as they went down by a solitary goal.
They, however, made amends by booking their spot in the quarterfinals after a convincing 2-0 win against Young Ideas.
In their quarterfinal clash against Shining Stars, Riverside took an early lead from the penalty spot through Marcelo Keet. However with but three minutes to go before fulltime, Riverside gave away a penalty which was converted by Shining Stars.
Shining Stars went on to win the match on a 3-2 penalty shootout.