Who will get ahead?

With the mid-season break scheduled to begin at the end of this week, the Boston Premier League (BPL) had some undeniably brilliant developments.

Madadeni Boys made an impressive stand against the balanced Pansula Boys on Monday night.

Pansula Boys worked hard throughout the game, creating countless opportunities through quick passes and movement from star players Caleb Naidoo and Ibrahim Mathuli.

Unfortunately, Pansula Boys could not manage to score past the dominant force of Madadeni Boys’ goalkeeper, Yusuf Magwanda.

Four goals were scored by Madadeni Boys before the final whistle, and so ended Pansula Boys’ attempt to create a top of the table upset in its first season.

Before we dive into the main game of the week thus far, we have to look at what makes Madadeni Boys so deadly in both attack and defence.

While holding mid-fielder, Nkululeko Nxumalo controls the game well, he is also deadly in attack, which he proved on Monday when he crashed in a volley from his first shot of the game.

The team’s two biggest opponents, Al-Ahly and Stucky Zenith, played each other in a rivalry game which will go down in the history books as a classic!

The intensity of the game was breathtaking, with Stucky Zenith providing a continuous assault on the Al-Ahly goals in the first half.

However, it was Al-Ahly’s winger, Peer van der Plank, who managed to break free on the wing and guided the ball into the back of the net with a beautifully controlled shot, taking some pressure off his team.

Sandile Magagula was unable to net in the three one-on-one chances he was given.

While Sandile remains one of the league’s leading scorers, this performance suggested his form might be slipping.

Stucky Zenith was struck another blow, when key central defensive midfielder and all-round brilliant player, Hudhaifah Randeree, performed an excellent last-man tackle, when he was faced with the pace of former leading league goal-scorer, Mohammed Moola.

In the tackle both players were injured and were taken off the field. Pushing more bodies forward, Stucky Zenith became more susceptible to the counter, and soon enough a splitting pass found Al-Ahly’s Mandla, in the open and he calmly finished.

Soon after the start of the second half, Stucky Zenith’s Doctor hit a cracker, that rattled the cross-bar and increased the tension of the game. Al-Ahly had other plans and regained composure immediately, once again catching their opposition on the break and netting in one more.

There was not much that Stucky Zenith’s goal-keeper, Irfaan Khan, could do to keep his side from falling three goals behind. Stucky Zenith proved it was not some two-bit team, and with the reintroduction of Hudhaifah and attacking mid-fielder, Keagen Maistry, the team staged a massive come-back. Sandile managed to net in a poacher’s goal, and then Sifiso ‘Socks’ Buthelezi scored a second after a corner routine, and the game’s tempo rose like a Phoenix, together with the Stucky Zenith players.

With four minutes left on the clock, shots rang out, and Stucky Zenith pushed to score, while Al-Ahly looked to defend and return fire of their own.

In the dying minutes of the game, Hudhaifah managed to free himself from defenders during a corner routine.

He jumped his height to meet a header, which was somehow deflected between the combined efforts of defender Muzi and goalkeeper Joe allowing Al-Ahly to stay ahead in this nail-biting game.

The final whistle blew with the score reading three-two in Al-Ahly’s favour.

This win put Al-Ahly at the top of the table with 18 points, but both Stucky Zenith and undefeated Madadeni Boys has games in hand.

Zamalek, lost its first game to fifth placed Real Alenco, in a two-one clash that will possibly open up the top of the table position for second placed Ababeel who have a game in hand over Zamalek.

Hungry Lions continued their unimpressive season, losing five-one to Lusitano, however, the team has shown immense development since it entered the court soccer scene this year.

This week signals the season break, however, the action is never over, and both the Knock-Out Cup and Champions League are up for the coming weeks.