Mpheni Home Defenders were crowned as the Limpopo ABC Motsepe Stream A champions after beating the second-placed team, Giyani Happy Boys, 3-1 in their match that was played at a packed Makhado Show Grounds on Tuesday.
Defenders now have to wait for the winners of stream B to be determined, whom they will meet in the provincial play-off.
On Tuesday, the players nearly spoiled the game by demonstrating their rough tackles in the opening minutes. The referee calmed the situation by flashing three red cards and numerous yellow cards in quick succession.
Happy Boys should have been the first to find the net. Their diminutive striker, Sello "Ferrari" Molewa, was unfortunate to see his volley go a little wide.
A defender of Happy Boys, Sandile Mbhense, handled the ball inside the penalty area and the referee pointed to the white spot. Lucky "Malaza" Buasi converted to make the score 1-0.
Defenders initiated some promising moves from the centre of the pitch but were denied several scoring opportunities. Thabelo "Walktoll" Tshikweta scored his team's second goal in the 40th minute. The goal was a wakeup call to the players of Happy Boys, who started to play their normal style of football soon afterwards. The half-time score was still 2-0 in favour of Defenders.
Happy Boys approached the last stanza with more confidence. No one was surprised when Siphesihle Sithole scored from close range after receiving a neat pass from Zimele Zuma.
Happy Boys lost cohesion in the middle of the park shortly after they had scored this goal. Defenders capitalised on the setback and pressed hard in search of more goals. Gift "Gitto" Nemutandani scored his team's third goal.