Epic footie in the community
Safa Phoenix closes 2018 football campaign
SAFA Phoenix dropped the curtains on their 2018 campaign, with the KO cup finals for their junior and senior teams over the weekend, but locals will get one last serving of football on Thursday night.
And it is shaping up to be a delicious serving.
The association’s SAB League representative, Rainham Sporting, is set to take on the South African Defence Force team that has travelled to Durban from their Pretoria base for the fixture.
The match will be played at the Eastbury ground and kick-off is set for 7pm.
Safa Phoenix’s president, Desmond Ganesan, said they were excited to have the match played in Phoenix.
He also thanked Rainham’s chairman, Julian Moodley, for bringing the game to Phoenix and drafting players from the association’s senior divisions into his squad.
“This will be a great opportunity for players from Phoenix to test their ability against a highly rated team.”
Ganesan said key players in the squad included Sashin Reddy (Cambellstown), Stonebridge Sporting’s Clint Pretorius and Tyrese Baijnath of Phoenix Sporting.
Lieutenant Colonel Sello Choane, who heads the defence force team, said they were on a mission to win in Durban.
“We play football every Wednesday. In August, we had our annual championship tournament, where we selected a national team that will be travelling to Durban. Our danger men will be strikers Sesikho Pitis and Teko Ramfate. Peter Matlala is another of our main players,” said Choane.
Meanwhile, the Clayfield Sporting senior team won the association’s FA Cup final played at the Eastbury ground on Saturday evening.
Clayfield, a Division 1 team, ended the run of giant killers Division 2 Phoenix Sporting, with a 3-1 victory.
Sibusiso Ntuli and Jeremy Chetty were on target for Clayfield in the first half. Joel Velayadum pulled Phoenix Sporting back into the contest with his strike. But Ryan Seerpath sealed the win for Clayfield with his cracking free kick in the second half.
Clayfield’s chairman, Rajesh “Goggles” Ramguthee, said it was a great feeling winning the association’s main KO cup competition.
Ramguthee thanked their captain, Rowen Balkaran, for keeping the team focused on the day. He said the club’s Under-9 team’s win in the Junior Cup finals made the day extra special, with a 1-0 win over Stonebridge Sporting.
Ganesan said Saturday capped the end of another exciting season of football.