Scara Ngobese Memorial games held in Katlehong
The soccer tournament was held in Katlehong in remembrance of the late Kaizer Chiefs dribbling wizard - Emmanuel “Scara” Ngobese - who passed away at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in May 2010.
The fifth instalment of Scara Ngobese’s Memorial games began at Somhlolo Ground on December 17 until December 31 when the finals took place at Huntersfield Sportsground.
The games were played every day for 14 days except for Christmas day.
Nokulunga Ngcobo, one of the organisers, said the tournament has been running for the past five years.
“For the past five years it was the normal tournament without a name and it was played every year (December) in the township. But three years ago we decided to name the tournament after the late Scara Ngobese as he was the influential player while he was still participating in the tournament.
“As the committee, we went to sit down with Scara Ngobese’s family to find out if they would mind if we name the tournament after him and play the tournament to honour him. They did not see anything wrong with that and as a result, we named the tournament the Scara Ngobese Memorial Games,” said Ngcobo.
She said they want to keep Scara Ngobese’s legacy going as his passion while he was still alive was to develop young talent in the township where he grew up.
“We also saw a need to use the opportunity and continue where he left off and started the tournament that will assist to develop young talents in the township,” Ngcobo told Kathorus MAIL.
Teams from the township came in their numbers to participate in this prestigious annual event that takes place in December every year.
Fans from the entire Kathorus area also came in their numbers to witness the event.
The results of the game starting from the semi-finals:
Aston Villa FC played against Heineken FC in the first semi-finals and saw Aston Villa FC win the game 2-0.
Zone Three FC took on Ruby FC in the second semi-final. The score was 0-0 in the regulation time. Ruby FC won by 4-2 on penalties.
The moment everyone was waiting for was the final that everyone in the stadium was dreaming of – Aston Villa FC played Ruby FC as they were the best teams on the day. The game ended 0-0 after the regulation time. It then went to penalties that Aston Villa FC won by 3-0.
Aston Villa FC walked away with R80 000, the trophy and gold medals for being the champions of the tournament while Ruby FC got the runners-up prize of R75 000 and silver medals for their second-place finish.
