Mushaathoni High won the prestigious Coca Cola Fortune Inter-Secondary Cup 2007 against Masiza High through a penalty shoot-out at the Elim grounds on Sunday.

They were crowned as the new champions of the tournament. The score was 5-3 after a penality shoot-out, in favour of Mushathoni. The boys from Hlanganani had themselves to be blame for their failure to produce a goal in the early minutes of the match. Their striking force, which was manned by Marvelos Mashele, Mkateko Masocha and Ernest Machaba, was out of touch for the better part of the first half.

The Nzhelele lads were aggressive, with their midfielders dishing out dangerous passes to their strikers. Teddy Nndwambi, the defender of Mushaathoni, handled the ball inside of his penalty area and the referee, Vicky Tsedu, did not hesitate to point to the white spot. Nkateko Masocha converted the opportunity into a goal.

The half-time score was still 1-0 in favour of Masiza. In the second half, both teams started the match aggressively, looking for goals. The boys from Mushaathoni rectified their mistakes and started to show great character and purpose, but lacked cohesion. Mushaathoni should have scored in the 67th minute, but Mpho Makana became over-excited and shot a slow shot into goalkeeper Nile Hlabangwane’s hands.

Masiza had their moment of regrets, when their striker Olaph Baloyi failed to convert a penalty after a defender of the opposition miskicked the ball and shot wide. Sampie Siema equalised in the 79th minute, after he received a square pass from Fhumulani Ratshisuka.

The match ended in a 1-all draw and during the penalty shoot-out, Mushaathoni gained the upper hand.

In the girls’ category, Mphephu was crowned as the champions by beating Marimane 1-0.