The battle for top honors in Safa Cape Town’s SAB League took an interesting turn at the weekend as the gap between the pace-setters and the chasing pack was reduced with the league entering the second round.
Leaders Matroosfontein were beaten 1-0 at home by fellow title contenders and third-placed Greenwood Athletic while second placed Young Pirates also picked up maximum points when they came out 2-1 triumphant against Junction Rovers. Despite the loss, the Elsies River-based Mastrofontein remains in the summit of the standings with 31 points – four points clear of Pirates with a game in hand. Greenwood are five points adrift.
In a highly competitive and attacking football game at Hickory Road Astro Turf fields in Athlone, Matroosfontein should have opened the scoring in the first stanza but the brilliant defence from the visitors ensured that the score remains goalless going to the break.
It took five minutes after the restart for Greenwood to find the back of the net and their goalkeeper ensured that they return home with the full three points when he saved a penalty, among the many crucial blocks.
Matroosfontein coach Patrick Weels said Greenwood is always not an easy team to play and his team had taken home valuable lessons from the game. “The results are a good learning curve for us going forward and it shows hunger of opponents.”
In an earlier game at the same venue, Goals 50 and Nano Nacional played to a 1-1 draw, while Rebels will rue the countless chances they missed when they lost 2-1 to Cape Town United at Lingelethu Sports Field in Site C to be dropped to the relegation zone.
