Blues win on penalties after 4-goal thriller
Boksburg Football Club (BFC), also known as the Blues, defeated Norkem Park 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out in the cup semi-final.
This is after 120 minutes of football failed to separate the sides in a four-goal thriller at Benoni Northerns grounds on Saturday, September 7.
Norkem Park had the early ascendency in the game, but had to wait 20 minutes to break the deadlock after a costly error from the BFC goalkeeper Tefo “T4” Tladi.
It took the Blues a while to find some fluency in their play, but they soon started creating opportunities as they went in search of an equaliser.
The contest was starting to develop into a tactical battle towards the end of the first half as Norkem played with more caution, looking to hold onto their lead, while Boksburg pushed bodies forward attempting to unlock a stubborn Norkem Park defence.
There would be no change to the scoreboard by halftime as Norkem went into the break with their slender lead in tact.
With passions running high, both sides were reduced to 10 men in the second period in similar circumstances. Two overly zealous challenges resulted in the referee booking the player before showing a second yellow for abusive language.
Boksburg, however, retained a high tempo and finally found the back of the Norkem net after some fine wing-play from Michael Viljoen saw Sean Watt heading home from a perfectly-measured cross.
The celebrations continued for BFC 10 minutes later as they took the lead.
Lethal striker, Bruce Williams, notched his 21st goal of the season with an audacious chip over the advancing Norkem keeper to put the Blues 2-1 in front.
The absorbing contest was reaching its end and Norkem looked set to concede defeat but it was not to be.
With less than a minute to the final whistle, Norkem scored a dramatic equaliser to force the match into extra time.
With tired legs, both teams seemed comfortable to take the match into a shoot-out. Spectators stayed glued to their seats as they remained deadlocked until the end of extra time.
In a clinical shoot-out performance by both teams, the first four penalty takers from both teams held their nerve to convert their efforts from the spot.
Mario Maia, the fifth penalty-taker for the Blues had been the best player on the park for BFC on the day, but his most important contribution came down to this one kick.
He took his penalty with supreme calmness, sending the keeper the wrong way.
Norkem now had to score to take the shootout to sudden death.
BCF’s goalkeeper “T4” Tladi had a point to prove after his first half blunder. He went from villain to hero within a blink of an eye and made a spectacular diving save to his left side, which sent BFC into the cup final.
BFC play the final on Sunday.
