WESTVILLE Boys’ High School and Michaelhouse locked horns on the soccer field on Saturday 26 July.
WBHS started off well, playing at a high tempo and moving the ball swiftly. They were rewarded in the fourth minute when they took the lead through a well taken set piece. Bradley Smith chipped the ball into the box and Lindo Buthelezi, through a glancing header, put the ball into the bottom right corner of the net.
After this initial five minutes, WBHS lacked composure and struggled to convert their chances. At times WBHS kept the ball well and moved it among their defenders and midfielders but did not penetrate Michaelhouse’s defence. The highway team did however switch the ball well on occasions and looked dangerous on attack when doing so. WBHS also looked dangerous off set pieces in the first half and created chances, especially off long throws and corners and came close to scoring on several occasions.
In the second half, the hosts lacked urgency and finesse. They were more effective when playing longer balls through the left and right central channels directly to the strikers – moving the ball up the pitch at a faster rate and getting behind the Michaelhouse midfield.
Michaelhouse scored their goal in the 51st minute of the game when they caught their hosts on the break. After WBHS had taken a throw in deep in Michaelhouse’s territory, Siphelele Ndimande was caught in possession on the edge of the Michaelhouse box – the ball was then played up to the Michaelhouse striker and after a comedy of errors from the WBHS defence, the striker volleyed home for an equaliser. This seemed to wake up the WBHS team as they took the lead again, almost immediately in the 53rd minute. The ball was played from the left side of the pitch by Ebraheem Vahed to Brad Hunter who then played it wide right to Robin Peterson who put in an early cross and the ball was hammered into the bottom right corner by Lindo Buthelezi for his second goal.
Michaelhouse had one more golden chance to equalise in the 55th minute when a long ball was played behind the WBHS defence, and after a one-on-one with the keeper, the Michaelhouse striker put the ball wide. WBHS then closed the game with a 2-1 win.
