Zwelitsha United FC are the new champions of the coveted Mercedes-Benz Safa Buffalo City Easter Tournament 2016.
This they did in style following their gutsy 1-0 victory over favourites Relatives FC of Mdantsane whose performance was below par and left much to be desired at the Jan Smuts Stadium in East London last night.
Probably one of the most boring cup finals one is likely to see, United's solitary goal in the opening half, courtesy of talented forward Milasande Madonci, was all it took to conclude the match.
The opening stanza was a dull affair with both sides struggling to put together three passes or even to pose any threat to the two goalkeepers.
The match was always going to be there for the taking with last year’s winners - crowdpullers and dominant Seagulls FC of North End having opted to play in the parallel event that was organised by the East London Central LFA where they reached the final as expected.
Back to Jan Smuts, part of the bore may be attributed to the gruelling two weekends of playing back-to-back matches with the tournament having started a week before Easter. The road to the final was not an easy one for the two giants, especially for Relatives who suffered a 1-0 shock defeat to Catch FC in the round robin stages.
They would, however, win all their matches thereafter. For United, they arrived in the final with an unblemished record, having won all matches including a controversial 25-24 victory on penalties against Safa BC SAB League log leaders Mighty Bucks in the last eight.
Neither United nor Relatives showed superiority against the other yesterday as neither side tried hard to get rid of the ball from their own half.
One can only hope that the two clubs will not take their boring game that subjected spectators to endless yawning to the league where they are both in contention for the championship with Relatives in second place while United are fourth.
The match was not free of controversial officiating as referee Lwando Fulathelwa denied United a goal half-way through the opening 45, ruling it an offside, much to the frustration of the King William’s Town side’s fans who had erupted into celebrations.
The match would continue being an open affair until Luyolo Kenke for Relatives found himself one-on-one with the opposition goalkeeper but feared taking responsibility and opted for a pass that was eventually cleared for a corner instead of going for the goal himself.
On the other end, United’s Milasande Madonci showed Kenke how it is done when he placed a grass-cutting shot to the right bottom corner as a helpless Relatives goalkeeper Sinalo Matyholo watched in awe as the opposition took the lead.
Relatives continued to struggle in the final stanza, missing the very few chances they created with forward Kenke being the main culprit who was alone upfront in the absence of the reliable Mfundo Bonyongo.
Zwelitsha FC triumph
This they did in style following their gutsy 1-0 victory over favourites Relatives FC of Mdantsane whose performance was below par and left much to be desired at the Jan Smuts Stadium in East London last night.
Probably one of the most boring cup finals one is likely to see, United's solitary goal in the opening half, courtesy of talented forward Milasande Madonci, was all it took to conclude the match.
The opening stanza was a dull affair with both sides struggling to put together three passes or even to pose any threat to the two goalkeepers.
The match was always going to be there for the taking with last year’s winners - crowdpullers and dominant Seagulls FC of North End having opted to play in the parallel event that was organised by the East London Central LFA where they reached the final as expected.
Back to Jan Smuts, part of the bore may be attributed to the gruelling two weekends of playing back-to-back matches with the tournament having started a week before Easter. The road to the final was not an easy one for the two giants, especially for Relatives who suffered a 1-0 shock defeat to Catch FC in the round robin stages.
They would, however, win all their matches thereafter. For United, they arrived in the final with an unblemished record, having won all matches including a controversial 25-24 victory on penalties against Safa BC SAB League log leaders Mighty Bucks in the last eight.
Neither United nor Relatives showed superiority against the other yesterday as neither side tried hard to get rid of the ball from their own half.
One can only hope that the two clubs will not take their boring game that subjected spectators to endless yawning to the league where they are both in contention for the championship with Relatives in second place while United are fourth.
The match was not free of controversial officiating as referee Lwando Fulathelwa denied United a goal half-way through the opening 45, ruling it an offside, much to the frustration of the King William’s Town side’s fans who had erupted into celebrations.
The match would continue being an open affair until Luyolo Kenke for Relatives found himself one-on-one with the opposition goalkeeper but feared taking responsibility and opted for a pass that was eventually cleared for a corner instead of going for the goal himself.
On the other end, United’s Milasande Madonci showed Kenke how it is done when he placed a grass-cutting shot to the right bottom corner as a helpless Relatives goalkeeper Sinalo Matyholo watched in awe as the opposition took the lead.
Relatives continued to struggle in the final stanza, missing the very few chances they created with forward Kenke being the main culprit who was alone upfront in the absence of the reliable Mfundo Bonyongo.
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