United Brothers silence Happy Boys

Mudaswali United Brothers came back from a 0-1 deficit and beat Maraxwe Happy Boys 2-1 to secure a place in the final of the Thulamela Mayoral Cup Tournament at the Makhuvha Stadium on Sunday.

The game was characterized by wasted scoring opportunities, although no goal was seen during the first half.

Happy Boys were the first to knock on the opposition's door. Their centre forward, Rangani Rabambi, went loose from the left corner in the 11^th minute and unleashed a half volley from the edge of the box. Unfortunately for Rabambi, there was not enough power behind the ball and Adivhaho Nekhavhambe, the Brothers’ keeper, palmed the ball away for a corner kick.

United Brothers regrouped from behind, creating some promising moves from the middle of the park. They threatened to score in the 24^th minute when Zwanga Tshivhengwa tried his luck with a half volley from the 25-meter area. The ball missed the target by inches, much to the fans’ disappointment.

Happy Boys took the lead in the 58^th minute. A corner kick by Tumelo Shotheli gave birth to the Boys’ only goal. Victor Tshivhase scored with a neat header. United Brothers strengthened their striking force by introducing two new faces. They replaced Zwanga Tshivhengwa and Pfunzo Malindi with Ronewa Sadiki and Itani Mphaga respectively.

The replacements proved to be a clever move on the part of the team’s technical staff. United Brothers found the equalizer in the 74^th minute. Lawrence Nthulana made no mistake after receiving a beautiful pass from Phathutshedzo Dzebu. Rangani Rabambi of Happy Boys was warned with a card, following a continued argument with the referee. Unarine Rambuda scored the Brothers’ winning goal four minutes before the end of the game.     

Date:25 April 2019

By: Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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