ISHMAEL MOHLABE
The House Internal Auditing (HIA) football team won the inaugural House Internal Auditing Championship after beating House Humanities 12-11 on penalties on UP Sport campus last Saturday.
Before coming into the final clash, HIA were beaten 2-0 by House Humanities in their first game but advanced to the semi-final after they beat House Finance 3-1. House Humanities went into the finals after beating the YES Tuks team 1-0 in their semi-final.
The final was exciting from the start as HIA looked to avenge their loss to House Humanities. Humanities won a free kick after two minutes of play when Humbulani Moketla tripped Mbizo Mzanani 25 yards away from the goal. Mzanani failed to capitalise as he fired over the crossbar.
Four minutes in, a mix-up between HIA goalkeeper Nelson Maja and defender Leslie Coleman almost cost the team as Maja fumbled over Coleman’s back pass. Humanities’ Matt Fitzz failed to exploit the error as he blasted the ball against Maja. Humanities continued to create a couple of scoring chances but failed to kill the game when they had to. Mzanani connected with David Farreira’s cross from the left flank and Mzanani almost scored for Humanities as he volleyed a shot which went wide in the sixth minute of the game.
HIA were also threatening and David Mothwa fired over the crossbar after connecting with a Moketla cross in the eighth minute. HIA broke the deadlock soon afterwards. Moketla’s low cross to Coleman put the team in front with just five minutes to go before the interval.
Humanities leveled the score in the final minute of the first half. HIA conceded a free kick and Mzanani converted the opportunity with a powerful low shot.
Both teams ran out of steam immediately after half time, looking worn out and fatigued. Humanities’ backline stayed concrete. HIA’s only real chance came through defender Obakeng Kgopa’s volley from low range.
Humanities playmaker Mzanani set up a good run with the ball but his left-footed shot was cleared from the line by Thinesh Thirbaeni in the game’s final minute.
The final 1-1 draw meant that the winner had to be decided on penalties. The two teams played according to the sudden death rule, which means that the game is not over until one team misses a penalty and the other converts it.
On Humanities’ 15th penalty kick, Albert van Zyl blasted his shot against the upright. Neo Mafabatho produced a brilliant spot kick to make House Internal Auditing the tournament champions.
Photo: Brad Donald
