Tight affair at Northerns
Benoni Northerns FC secured an excellent victory against Union FC.
It was a case of “anything you can do I can do better”, at Northern Areas, on Saturday, July 6, when the Benoni Northerns first football team faced Union FC, in the ELFA Super League Seniors Division One.
The home team were beaming after an 8-1 defeat of Kempton Park in the ELFA Cup, a week earlier, and were looking to continue their recent success.
The match kicked off in front of a decent Northerns crowd, with both teams feeling each other out in the opening exchanges.
Graham Turnbull opened the scoring by using his strength to knock the ball past the Union goalkeeper.
Shortly after he scored, the opposition managed to break the defence and beat Daniel De Abreu in the Northerns goal.
The quick forward, Brogan Shrimpton, then latched onto a through ball and took the score to 2-1 in Northerns’ favour.
Shakes Ngwenya (fresh off a hat-trick last week) added his name to the score sheet before Union managed to score their second goal of the game.
The teams went into the half at 3-2 and it was clear that the game was only going to heat up from that point.
When the second half commenced, Union managed to find an equaliser and, at 3-3, it was all to play for.
The teams threw everything at each other in the hopes of finding a winner, and the excitement was building as the game neared completion.
Ngwenya provided a moment of joy for the Northerns faithful when he scored the winner late on.
Northerns’ first team coach, Flavio Mariuzzi, who was absent on the day, later commented: “It is a hard game against Union FC, so we knew from the start that it was going to be tight and I’m glad to hear that the boys raised their game when it was needed.”
The team are almost certain to finish second in the league, with Highlands Park too far ahead in first position to catch.
Northerns return to action on Saturday, July 13, when they meet Corinthians FC at Northern Areas.
Kick-off is at 3.30pm.
