Vasco ladies crowned Sasol League National Championship winners

An electrifying start by Vasco da Gama ladies and the brilliance of striker Miche Minnies saw the Western Cape outfit lift the Sasol League National Championships trophy after edging City Lads 4-3 at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Sunday.

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With the two teams having already secured their places in the first tier of the South African women’s football as finalists, it was a battle to see who would be crowned champions of the competition by lifting the trophy and getting the R200 000 prize money.

Minnies, who has been outstanding throughout the tournament for the Western Cape club continued with her brilliant performances. But, it would be Astria Boks who puts Vasco in the front seat, with a well taken shot to make it 1-0.

Minnies would go on to extend the lead for Vasco taking the score-line to 2-0 and making it more difficult for Lads to come back.

Lads would eventually pull one back through Tarran January, as she slotted the ball in from close range thanks to Onelisa Nanasele’s well placed cross to make it 2-1, but former Banyana Banyana goalkeeper Roxanne Barker made it 3-1 for Vasco just before half-time.

In the opening minutes of the second half, there weren’t clear cut chances to score with the two teams failing to pull some magic. But, with the time on the clock ticking, City Lads went on a mission to save the game and Nosipiwo Bottoman scored their second goal of the match to take the score-line to 3-2.

With four minutes of regular time remaining, Lads were awarded a penalty which was scored by Nandipha -Booi to make it 3-3.  But, the hard running Minnies was there to save the day, taking advantage of fumble by Lads goalkeeper Amanda  Nteyi and she went on to score her second goal of the game in the dying minutes of the match to make it 4-3 for the club from Western Cape and  making sure that they end up lifting the trophy at the end.