Whistle blows on new season

A red-carded coach, a dodgy foul decision and an action-packed game heralded the start of the ELFA (Eastern Local Football Association) Super League season, on Saturday.

Germiston City Football Club went up against Old Bens on City’s grounds, at the Germiston City Sports Club.

The home side started well, with two early breaks down the left side of the field, which saw Lebogang Chokoe beating the Old Bens ‘keeper, but shooting wide into the side netting.

The game then went through a settling-in period, with Old Bens coming close on one occasion.

A good ball from Germiston midfielder Tiisetso Molemela set up Chenedu Ekwemuuo, which resulted in the first goal of the game.

There was great celebration from the Germiston fans, but, this was short-lived as Germiston came under pressure after a clearance by Scotty Chando ricocheted off referee Trevor Dube, which allowed Old Bens to score the equaliser.

Both coaches were extremely vocal from the side-lines, shouting advice and orders.

A very vocal Germiston coach, Sreten Pavlovic, tried to encourage his side with Germiston making the most of the play midway through the first half and ‘keeper Mluleki Dlamini keeping Old Bens at bay with two excellent saves.

The side was lucky, as a dodgy foul decision (which the GCN has on video) by Dube on the side of Old Bens could have resulted in the visitors putting another one into the back of the net.

In the 35th minute Germiston were awarded a penalty for a foul on forward Tendai Rufai.

Chokoe took the penalty and struck the bar, the ball seemingly bouncing off the underside of the bar and in, but the referee’s assistant ruled no goal.

This was a missed opportunity which would come back to haunt City.

Germiston put on a good spell of play approaching half-time, but a counter-attack by Old Bens on the stroke of half-time saw them go into the second half 1-2 up against the home side.

The second half started with the home side taking the game to Old Bens.

Germiston came close, with a well-taken free kick by Chokoe, who hit the bar for the second time in the game.

With the home side encouraged, Molemela set off on a run down the right and beat two Old Bens players, but not the upright, with another chance going to waste.

Germiston were put under pressure with a high ball down the middle, which was not dealt with by defender Alex Njosi, resulting in a foul, but luckily goalkeeper Dlamini dealt with the resulting free kick easily.

Some good play between Chando and substitute Innocent Dlamini stretched the opponent’s defence, but came to nothing when Chando did not read the final pass and lost the ball.

With 12 minutes to go, Pavlovic decided to give 15-year-old Angelo Kazeem his first team league debut for a tiring Molomela.

After words between referee Dube and Old Bens’ coach Raymond Cloete, the coach was shown a red card.

With the game drawing to a close, young Kazeem made a good run down the right, beating a number of defenders, but his shot narrowly missed the goal.

There was a chance for one last Old Bens attack, but the forward’s shot hit the side netting, resulting in another missed opportunity for either of the teams to score.

The match ended with a final score of Germiston City: 1; Old Bens: 2.

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