Coming to a close

Al-Ahly marched on impressively this week towards a possible top-of-the-table finish, after they beat the previously undefeated Amahlubi FC 6-4 on Sunday.

Fielding a mix of players, ranging from the experienced Rajah, to the young Moola, the Al-Ahly side gave a unique showing of versatility and passion for the sport on the field.

Star striker, Sharrif, managed to improve his tally of goals after scoring one for his side, while Rajah and Haniff each earned themselves a brace.

The youngest Al-Ahly player, Moola, also made an excellent showing. With his control and skill at the front of the pitch, he managed to ease in a goal. This is a player to look out for. With the right developments to his pace and strength, he would have the ability to cause problems for any defence.

Amahlubi played a very consistent game, and the team showed great cohesiveness.

However, its downfall may be in the lack of probing movements of the ball.

Two of the four goals the team managed to score were due to controversial penalties, and the other attacks from the team seemed to lack proper purpose.

Amahlubi does have some talented players.

Left winger, Farouk, is an excellent example. It is not uncommon to find him playing in all areas of the field, as he drops back to defend, and pushes forward to give the perfect cross in.

His talents, coupled with central midfielder and captain of the side, Simphiwe, make the Amahlubi midfield move the team together like a well-oiled machine.

Amahlubi striker, Phumlani, is a real work horse, constantly trying to find ideal spaces to run into, while his opposite number in defence, Hudhaifah Majozo, has lots of similarities as he often backtracks and moves across the field quickly to cut off passes that would split other defences.

Sporting FC challenged Amahlubi in a friendly game, after Amahlubi’s loss to Al-Ahly, and the team succumbed to a four-nil loss to the young side.

Sporting has completely rehauled its once experienced side, opting to go for youth and potential rather than wisdom.

The recipe seems to be working, the scoreline proves this.

Their young keeper, Swelihle, kept his side in the lead by being an excellent shot stopper, displaying brilliant reflexes against a barrage of shots and one-on-one opportunities.

Attacking winger, Thulani Nxumalo is extremely agile and strong on the ball. His trips down the side of the field, often result in an opportunity being created for Sporting.

The 4-nil scoreline should have read more, but Sporting were let down on a number of occasions by their strikers, who opted to sky the ball much rather than keeping it flat on the ground.

On the other side of the Sporting pitch, centre back, Rojer, is the epitome of an ideal centre back. He is strong, has an excellent vision, which puts him in the ideal position to intercept and mark players. He does this all while marshalling defence around him.

Amahlubi is a great team. Their near undefeated season is proof, but if it cannot work out the finer details in the game, the team may find itself dropping more than one place by the final game.