Tshwane South College crowned champions after winning regional league finals

Tshwane South College won the Safa Tshwane Regional League Cup on Saturday after holding Titans to a one-all draw in a sizzling league encounter at the Tshwane South College Stadium in the west of Pretoria.

The match was one of two final games the Stream A and B log standings’ leaders, including Titans and Tshwane South College respectively, had to play for the champions to be identified.

The two teams made it into the finals after completing the normal league games in their streams on top of the log standings. Titans ended the 2021/2022 soccer season leading the Stream A with 70 points in 28 matches, while the college students concluded the season with 67 points in 28 matches.

The final games saw the two teams starting on a clean slate with the final match of the second part of the league competition serving as the decider.

Tshwane South College came into their final match of the finals with three points in their favour after defeating Titans by one goal to nil in the first match. This suggested that the Titans had to beat Tshwane South College by at least two goals to nil or without conceding any goal to win the cup.

This type of victory would award the Titans three points, which would be equal to that of Tshwane South College. However, scoring two goals without conceding any would allow them to narrowly win the league by a goal difference over their opponent.

On the other hand, since Tshwane South College did not only have three points but also a goal difference in its favour. This meant that the College students had to at least play a draw to win the league.

This would award them with one more point and brought the tally to four points over one to their favour, which was exactly the case during the College students’ victory over the weekend.

The two teams did not disappoint when locking horns in one of the toughest matches of the Tshwane regional league soccer season, which is regarded highest local level of football competition.

Titans showed their intention to clinch the league title as early as in the first half. They dominated the first stanza and launched several attacks from various directions including left, right and centre.

The College students, however, maintained their tight defence and made it difficult for their opponents to find the back of the net. As a result, the match went into interval 0-0.

In the second half, College students’ Aubrey Appies opened the scoring in the 81st minute.

This was after Keletso Kekaka from the far left passed into the 18-area where Karabo Seopela’s flick-on at the near post found Appies unmarked.

The College students’ excitement over the leading goal, however, did not last long as the Titans found an equaliser four minutes later, thanks to Phuluso Semata.

The build-up to the goal saw Tshepiso Sithole passing a long ball to Mpho Mashaba who made a brilliant pass to Semata who levelled the score.

Tshwane South College head coach Koketso Mmotong said they were excited about the victory but that more work lay ahead.

“The victory means a lot to us and our focus now is on the big fish which is still coming,” the former Mamelodi Sundowns winger said.

He said they still had to participate in the provincial play-offs and win them to advance to the ABC Motsepe League. The date for the play-offs is yet to be confirmed.

He said their later match against Titans was extremely tough.

“The boys did not want to make mistakes because our lives depended on this game, but I am happy we won.”

Titans head coach Mpho Makwase said the final game was tough but accepted the defeat and expressed his sadness over losing in the crucial games of the competition.

“I was indeed expecting a hostile territory whereby it would be difficult for us to play the way we want,” he said, adding that their opponents sometimes used various tactics to win the match such as delaying the ball.

He said they came to the match under pressure because of two goals they were supposed to score without conceding owing to their previous loss to the College students.

He said winning the final encounter by two goals ahead of their opponents was necessary for them to advance into the play-offs, adding that the entire team was however demoralised by the loss.

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