Oppidan FC outshine Goldfields
The Rhodes University internal soccer league entered its business end with the knockout games last week. The much anticipated 'final-before-the final' saw the top two sides, Oppidan Football Club take on Goldfields FC on Monday 21 August at Kings field. Oppidan won 2-0 .
The battle of first (Oppidan) and second (Goldfields) in the league was expected to have fireworks as both teams are known to be ruthless in the last third.
Both teams were in fine form and came to the encounter with a good string of results– Goldfields had previously beaten the struggling spurs 12-0 and Oppidan won all their five fixtures without conceding a single goal.
The match started with Goldfields suffocating the Oppidan defence but with no real threat to the Oppi goalkeeper, while the Oppidans relieved pressure by playing on the break, including once when they had a penalty claim dismissed by the referee after a cross volley hit both arms of the Goldfields defender.
Goldfields came closest to scoring first when a short corner was played from the right of the keeper, with what was intended to be a cross, almost snuck past the keeper, who was alert enough to tip the ball over the bar. The score at halftime 0-0. Both teams made substitutions which proved to be instrumental, with Oppi not holding back anymore. During a scramble in the box, their striker rifled a snapshot to the keeper’s left, leaving him rooted to the ground.
The contest was still very tight, however, and Goldfields’ substitute carried the ball from the centre half to beat four players but was stopped in his charges by the Oppi goalkeeper who stuck out his left leg to block a ball with 'goal' written all over it. The keeper was called into action on two more occasions and was up to the task.
After making a save with his right foot, the ball rolled on to the path of an Oppi player who played a cross-field pass to find a winger who passed two players before neatly putting it away into the bottomright corner.
It was now 2-0 to Oppi and when the full-time whistle blew, it was celebrations and despair for the respective teams.
Other results include Kings FC 4-0 Spurs; Fantastic 11 2-1 Banter FC; while Cory FC and Adamson FC winning 3-0 each after Phoenix FC and De Beers FC forfeited their matches when they didn't pitch up. Rhodes Staff beat Hilltop FC 1-0.