It was a freezing night in Cape Town on Tuesday…but it was hot on the pitch at Gugulethu Sports Stadium as two regional amateur football giants locked horns for the SAFA Cape Town Third Division League honours.
And of course, there could only be one winner – and this time around it was Matroosfontein who emerged victorious after downing spirited Silver Spurs 3-1 in a scintillating Regional Third Division playoffs final.
Goals from Marshall Jansen, Gershwin Joseph and Gershwin Van de Poll were enough to hand the Northern Suburbs Local Football Association side their first league trophy since they were promoted in 2018. Amien Awaldien scored the solitary goal for Spurs, a side that is affiliated in the Rygate LFA.
As champs, Matroos will represent the Cape Town region in the five-team Western Cape provincial playoffs to determine the two teams that will be promoted to the ABC Motsepe League.
Matroos coach Patrick Weels was proud of his team’s performance, and of how far they’d come.
“They did what they had to do tonight, and they had that fighting spirit. We had a bad second season in this league and didn’t win any games. The players understood what was happening and after that there was more unity in the team – and that was clear tonight. That has been the case the whole season and I think it worked for us.”
Spurs didn’t make it easy on them, though, proving themselves to be worthy opponents – especially goal scorer Amien Awaldien.
”One player who stood out for me and who was very worrying to us was their striker, Amien Awaldien. He’s a very good player – just look at the goal he scored. He is a top goal scorer in the league not for nothing.”
For Weels, the win speaks volumes about how ready Matroos are to represent Cape Town in the provincial playoffs. “I think the players are more up for it than what they were a week or two weeks ago. And all the best to my team.”
Spurs coach Victor Tajoodien congratulated Matroosfontein for an excellent performance. “They were good on the ball, and they were sharper than us on the evening. When we got the ball we prolonged our passes; we just were not sharp enough. I must admit I’m really disappointed with the results; so for us now it is time to go back to the drawing board.”
The provincial playoffs are scheduled to take place at Erica Park Stadium in Belhar on Saturday 4 September and Sunday 5 September 2021. Matroosfontein will play each of Black Cats from the Eden region, Merweville United from the Central Karoo, Ithemba Sporting of Overberg and Maties FC of Cape Winelands in a round-robin mini league (there was no football in the West Coast region due to Covid-19). The two top teams will qualify for the ABC Motsepe League next season.
