Batlokwa and Stars are Afrika Tikkun Champions League champs

Batlokwa FC U13 side and Norwood Young Stars U15 outfit are the new champions of the inaugural Afrika Tikkun Champions League soccer tournament.

The two sides were crowned respective champions of their age divisions after Batlokwa despatched Happy Fighters FC 2–1 while Stars booted their way to the championship by beating Alex Royal Tigers 4–1.

Both finals were played at the Altrek Sports Complex on November 19 after players of the two teams were taken through their paces in an Afrika Tikkun’s ‘boys to men’ programme that is designed to groom boys to respect and honour the rights of their female counterparts.

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The Tikkun initiative comes against the backdrop of Alexandra being singled as one of the hotbeds of gender-based violence, especially during the recent Covid-19 lockdown period in South Africa.

In the game that was witnessed by Alex News, Tigers started the game like one of the world’s most dangerous cats, traumatising their Stars counterparts and constantly bombarding their goalmouth in search of early goals that never materialised as the forwards missed the target.

Masego Sethebha, Menzi Ngubane, Simanga Nkosi, Fortunate Kwape and Ndamulelo Sikhwari were the main culprits of the missed opportunities for the Tigers outfit. Ndamulelo redeemed himself when he banged in a consolation goal in the dying minutes of the game.

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This was after Stars had scored three with the fourth an own goal by Tigers’ Siphelele Simelane after trying to clear the ball off the
goal line but instead knocked it in.

Earlier, the two teams had gone into the ‘oranges’ break with Stars leading by a solitary goal from the boot of Thato Ndlovu. This was after the Tigers defenders tried to play out from their 18-yard area and Thato intercepted the ball and converted.
Malizo Duka headed in the second goal for Stars. For their third, an acute angle curler from the right wing Omphemetse ‘Yellow’ Mojele found the net immediately followed by the own goal.

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The match almost degenerated into a fight between Tigers skipper Frans Sokana and Thato after an incident of rough play but was quickly quelled by the referee.

The incident not only goes against the spirit of fair play in football but collides with the very foundations of the tournament and workshops of Afrika Tikkun that players had undergone throughout the tournament leading up to the finals.

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