Basani Arrow Chiefs retained the David Mathebula Soccer Tournament trophy by beating Mbokota FC 4-3 in the final, which was staged at the Bungeni New Born Grounds on Sunday.

Mbokota threatened to score in the 6th minute after their captain, Johnson Chabalala, dribbled past two Chiefs’ defenders in a row and shot wide from the goal mouth. They again disappointed their enthusiastic fans, when Austin Baloyi received a neat pass from Thomas Ngobeni and fumbled at the goal finish, with the keeper well beaten.

Arrow Chiefs took the game to their opponents as the game progressed. They missed what everyone thought was a sure goal, when Andrew Makamu went loose from what looked like an offside position and unleashed aimlessly. Shortly thereafter, Vongani Baloyi of Mbokota was cautioned with a card, following a dangerous tackle on Oscar Simango.

The keeper of Mbokota, Faneriwa Makhubele, made his presence felt in the second half. In the first instance, he stretched to the limit and made a brilliant save after Kulani Manganyi tried his luck from the far right corner. As if that was not enough to impress the supporters, Makhubele made another save moments thereafter. This time he palmed Ephraim Baloyi’s volley away for a corner kick.

The score was still 0-0 at the end of the regulated time. The winner was determined through penalty shoot-out. The defending champions converted four via Chris Vukeya, Godfrey Hlungwani, Vongani Shirinda and a substitute, Promise Mukwevho. The visitors from Mbokota village managed to score three from the white spot through Vongani Baloyi, Bevley Malepe and Collen Shilenge.

Arrow Chiefs were presented with a floating trophy and a permanent trophy during a prize-giving ceremony that was held at the grounds later in the afternoon. The trophy was presented to them permanently by virtue of the fact that they had managed to defend it.

Apart from the two trophies, Arrow Chiefs received gold medals, training cones and four soccer balls. The runners-up, Mbokota FC, took home silver medals and four soccer balls. Teams that managed to reach the top eight stage of the competition were each presented with two soccer balls. They are Bungeni Young Tigers, Basani Arrow Chiefs, Mambedi Sundowns FC, Mashamba Benfica United, Mbokota FC, Muwaweni Lucky Stars, Nobela All Stars and Valdezia Santos FC.

The individual players and officials were also presented with different awards during the ceremony. The goalkeeper of the champions, Macdonald Manguha, was nominated the best keeper of the tournament and received R100 and a pair of gloves.

The Player of the Tournament, Andrew Makamu, went home with a cash prize of R200 and a R600 shopping voucher. The top goal scorer, Norman Mathebula of Mbokota, received R100 and a trophy while the best coach, Mr David Ngwenya of Basani Arrow Chiefs, received a trophy.