Seven Stars FC edge out Birmingham FC
Malvern’s Seven Stars Football Club has revived its great vein of form by edging off Birmingham Football Club from Jeppe in their clash at the Rhodes Park Football Grounds on September 22.
Seven Stars FC returned from two weeks of bad results after the team lost its clash last week at the same venue.
The Malvern team attacked Birmingham FC from the first whistle, using the flanks to make in-roads into the Seven Stars back four.
The continued pressure resulted in the first goal of the match being scored. A cross from winger, Mbuyiso Nxele found striker Vusi Loke who headed in the opener.
Birmingham FC absorbed the pressure and kept sending numbers forward, in the hope of an equaliser. The equaliser came in the form of a penalty after a Seven Stars FC player was judged for having handled the ball in the 18-yard area.
Musa Zondo stepped up for Birmingham and slotted the ball in the net with a cheeky kick that sent the goalkeeper the wrong way. Matters were level at half-time.
In the second half, both teams seemed to have a renewed energy. Seven Stars FC came close to scoring after a Birmingham FC defender made a hash of a simple pass by over-elaborating and being dispossessed of the ball. Seven Stars took a long range shot after noticing the Birmingham FC goalkeeper being off his line, but the goalkeeper was equal to the task.
The deadlock was broken by Seven Stars midfielder, Zamo Yende, who found himself in a good position in the box after some scrambling to power the ball into the net, making it 2-1 to Stars.
The goal seemed to have demoralised players from Birmingham FC as they started to lose shape in their passing game. Seven Stars FC took advantage of that, sending more men forward to pile on the pressure.
It did not take long before substitute Bheki Nala took advantage of a hospital-pass by one of the Birmingham defenders. He rounded off the keeper and scored in an empty net, leaving Seven Stars players protesting for an off-side.
The referee allowed the goal to stand, taking the score to 3-1 to Stars. With their two-goal lead intact, Stars started to show complacency, allowing Birmingham FC to catch them on the break in the final minutes of the game.
With only three minutes to play, Birmingham FC’s Bonga Mngoma was brought down in the penalty box. He stepped up to slot the penalty, but it appeared to be too little too late as Stars held on until the final whistle to end the clash at 3-2 to Malvern’s Seven Stars FC.
