ALBRECHT GEYER
On Monday 6 September, the football finals of the men’s and women’s 2010 House League were held at L.C. de Villiers.
The female residences, Lillium and Zinnia, played in the first final while Vividus and Olympus were the male residences that battled for top honours in the second final of the evening.
Lillium beat Zinnia 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out after the game finished in a draw. The match provided few goal scoring opportunities, one of which Lillium wasted after their striker was one-on-one with Zinnia’s goalkeeper in the last minutes of the match. The penalty shoot-out was marked with poor finishing and the first penalties of Lillium and Zinnia both ballooned over the crossbar. Nevertheless, Lillium were able to keep their composure under pressure and scored the decisive penalty that secured them the victory.
Laken Folster, Lillium’s captain, admitted that “after the disappointment of losing in the previous two finals, we were determined to set the record straight and prove that we are capable of wearing the tag of champions.” Folster said that the team’s motto of “play without limits, fear nothing and risk everything” was the fundamental driving force behind their success.
Vividus defeated Olympus 1-0 in an entertaining final match. Olympus failed to capitalise on a chance to take an early lead in the game. An identical situation occurred three minutes later at the other end when one of Vividus’ strikers missed a sitter less than two metres away from the goal. The winning goal came midway through the second half when Vividus made use of a defensive error by the opposition and slotted the ball past the Olympus goalkeeper. Vividus managed to hold on to their lead – albeit through some desperate defending of their own.
Vividus’ coach, Gerhard Vosloo, described the final as the “best moment” of his life. “Two years ago we lost to Kiaat in the final and the players had an insatiable hunger to avenge that defeat. I believe we were the closest knit unit of players than any of the other teams and that was essential to our success.” Kyle Theys, captain of Vividus, remarked that “commitment and hard work throughout the season” enabled them to reign supreme on the night.
