Derby delight for Northerns
A large crowd of football supporters gathered at Northern Areas on the evening of Friday, February 7, to witness the first team pre-season football derby between longtime rivals Benoni Northerns and Old Bens.
With the 2014 football season due to get underway on March 1, the two teams arranged the pre-season tournament, dubbed “The Benoni Shield”, to gain much needed match time and to boost fitness levels.
Benoni Northerns won the inaugural Benoni Shield 3-2, at Old Bens, last year, and were looking to reclaim the bragging rights.
The occasion was an emotional one, as both clubs celebrated the life of former Benoni Northerns coach Cliffy Pike, who recently passed away in an aircraft accident.
His stepson, Brogan Shrimpton, a first team player for Northerns, was handed the captain’s armband as honorary skipper for the evening.
The teams also observed a minute’s silence in tribute to the former coach.
The first match on the night, between the club’s second teams, was an even but competitive affair, with the teams playing out to a 2-2, draw but it was the first team match-up at 8.30pm that was the big draw card, as Benonians cheered on their favourite club.
Benoni Northerns’ first team coach Flavio Mariuzzi said that overall the match was very competitive.
“I did not expect it to be so physical, but there was a number of big tackles and challenges,” he said.
Two red cards, one for Northerns’ Buyisiwe Gungqisa and one for Bens’ John Wilson, were handed out by the referee during the course of the game, in this friendly match, which was not so friendly.
Northerns had the early impetus and put Old Bens under pressure early on, but there was not much in terms of goalmouth action until right fullback Warren Vogel broke the deadlock with a cracking effort that found the bottom left corner to give Northerns a 1-0 first half lead.
Graham “Braveheart” Turnbull guided home a well-worked and delicate header to extend Northerns’ lead to 2-0.
Following the Northerns goal Old Bens upped the ante but could not find the back of the net.
“The game was played with great spirit and commitment and both teams looked pretty good,” said Mariuzzi.
“I was impressed with Old Bens and definitely believe that they are headed in the right direction.”
“We are trying to foster a belief that our boys have to give their all for the Benoni Northerns badge and I believe that they did just that.”
Ray Cloete, first team coach of Old Bens, said the first half was evenly matched, with both teams missing some chances.
“We missed a good opportunity in the first half, to go level, but it wasn’t to be.
“Northerns were definitely the better team in the second half,” he said.
Cloete added that overall he was happy with how both sides played and was happy with what he saw.
