We have won the friendly game this afternoon against AmaZulu at the ‘We are One Festival’ at Princess Magogo Stadium.
In a game that failed to thrill in the first 45, it came down to penalties and sudden death to determine a winner.
Neither AmaZulu nor us looked dangerous at all in the first 45 minutes. Both teams held onto the ball as much as they could, and seemed to be waiting for the opposition to create some fireworks.
There were sections of play that seemed a bit more entertaining, but going into the break it was 0-0.
Minutes after returning to the field, Amazulu had a break through as they played into the final third and found the back of the net off some enterprising play.
This set the feeling for the second half. We were playing to equalise and AmaZulu to extend their lead. This ignited a true Derby style game with each team managing to frustrate each other and cause mistakes.
We were awarded a free kick to the side of the box. Debutante Ngcongco took the set piece. He struck the ball well and it curled into the goal, securing the equaliser.
With just a couple of minutes left in the half, we failed to secure a penalty awarded to us after the AmaZulu keeper picked the ball up outside of his box.
Skipper, Sabelo placed the ball and proceeded to blast it over the cross bar.
With the final whistle going, it was penalties that would decide the game. Each side selected their players and after the 5 penalties, it was still a 3-3 draw.
Sudden death came into play. Amazulu’s player walked up and took his shot. Mngwengwe dived to his right, reading the shot perfectly and made an amazing save.
Mfanafuthi Mkhize then stepped up and made no mistake for us, ensuring the win for the day.
Amazulu 1(3) – (4)1 Golden Arrows
