‘Derby Day’ has long been a must-attend event on the local sporting calendar and both clubs worked hard recently to ensure that all attendees enjoyed a terrific day out.
This year Old Bens made sure that young and old were well catered for with fun activities for the children and ice-cold beverages close by for the adults.
On the field of play, the classic rivalry of the neighbouring clubs (separated by a mere 2km) continued at Currin Park on a hot spring day which saw draws and late comebacks as the primary theme of the Eastern Local Football Association (ELFA) encounters.
WATCH: The u-6 Old Bens team, the future first team stars, show their support at the Benoni Derby:
It all started with the match between coach Darren Lee’s Benoni Northerns reserve XI and coach Dave Clark’s Old Bens reserve XI.
Bens (who defeated their foes 4-2 at Northern Areas in the first league match in May and 2-0 in the cup semi-final on August 29) have had Northerns’ number this season; however, they found themselves 2-0 down for the majority of their match – courtesy of strikes from Northerns’ Andrew Welgemoed and Sim Maseko.
The Old Bens team rallied towards the end of the game to claw their way back and draw the game 2-2 in dramatic style with goals from Peter Ndaba and James Brough, much to the delight of the home fans.
They will hope for a more convincing display when they play Randburg in the ELFA Super Reserve Cup final at Olympia on September 16.
The first team’s Benoni Derby was a game of contrasting halves.
In the first stanza coach Jannie van den Berg’s Northerns men enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and opportunities, but they could not get the ball past Dale Skinner in the Old Bens goal.
Bens opened the scoring, against the run of play, after a goalkeeping error from Northerns’ Rowen Viljoen allowed the home team’s striker Lesiba Modau in to score one of the easier goals of his career and give the hosts a 1-0 advantage.
He could have made it a brace of goals and doubled Old Bens’ lead when he stepped up to the penalty spot after the referee pointed to the spot after midfielder Lesego “Wii” Mlangeni was deemed to have been brought down in the area by Viljoen.
Modau subsequently missed the resultant penalty by blasting wide of the goal frame.
In the second period it was coach Raymond Cloete’s Old Bens outfit that enjoyed greater possession of the ball.
Northerns would have felt hard done by after they had a goal disallowed for offsides and had veteran Wade Marshall controversially sent off late into the fixture.
This created the set-up for a tense finale as BNFC worked hard to find an equaliser.
That goal eventually came, with about five minutes remaining.
Captain Keegan Frawley struck a free kick from a long distance that somehow squeezed past Skinner in the Old Bens goal.
The match ended 1-1.
This is the third time in three years that the clubs have drawn at Currin Park.
With their 3-1 win in the reverse fixture at Northerns in May, Old Bens will claim the bragging rights for 2017.
Commenting on the result van den Berg said: “It seemed as if both sides were extremely cautious and careful in trying to avoid making any mistakes, which I think actually forced the players into making errors.
“It was a fantastic match for the neutral and the last few minutes kept everybody interested and excited.”
Cloete said: “Both goalkeepers made mistakes that cost goals.
“The game was played in good spirits and the crowd was well-behaved, besides the odd chirp here and there.
“It was disappointing to concede so late, but it is one of those things and we will take the point.
“The main thing is that both Benoni sides have been competing and doing well in the league this season and that only bodes well for amateur football here.”
Cloete’s team was scheduled to play away against Highlands Park in the league on September 12.
BNFC will end their season with an ELFA Super Cup final against ELFA Super League winners Randburg at Olympia in Bedfordview at 3pm.
Final league positions will be announced as soon as administrative processes have been finalised.
CLICK HERE for a GALLERY of photographs snapped at the Benoni football derby.
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