Although they lost to the Western Cape side, Mbekweni Cosmos, in the finals, the representatives for the Limpopo Province, Manenzhe Liverpool, came back from the SAB League national play-offs tournament with pride. The annual tournament was staged at the Galishewe Stadium in Kimberly, Northern Cape, last week.

Liverpool booked a place in the final by winning three of their round robin matches and drawing one. They beat North West Stars, Mega Force and Beatrice Liverpool and shared the spoils with the Gauteng-based Highlandspark FC.

Liverpool lost 5-3 to Mbekweni Cosmos in the final. The national champions were determined through a penalty shoot-out after a 2-2 draw at the end of extra time. The ambassadors from Limpopo Province received silver medals, apart from the R8 000 cash prize which they were also presented with for their achievement.

Apart from their achievements as a team, a number of their individual players received awards during the tournament. Their killer-striker, Raymond Thenga, was nominated Man of the Match in their match against North West Stars that was played last Wednesday.

Their goalkeeper, Vincent Sigaba, was also nominated the Man of the Match in their match against Beatrice Liverpool, whom they beat 1-0. Ndondeni Maladzi scooped the same award in their match against Mega Force last Friday. The winners of the Man of the Match awards were each presented with R300. The striker for Manenzhe Liverpool, Ndondeni Maladzi, was the top goal scorer in the tournament. He was also voted the player of the tournament. He received R2 000 and R3 000 for his nomination as the top goal scorer and player of the tournament respectively.

The champions, Mbekweni Cosmos, took home a floating trophy, gold medals and a cash prize amounting to R12 000. The third- and fourth-placed teams, Morester Jeug FC and Highlanders, received R5 000 and R3 000 respectively. Liverpool will be campaigning in the Vodacom Promotional League when the activities for the next season start in August.