Northern Cape’s Upington City won the 2023 ABC Motsepe League National Playoffs title on Sunday as they beat Orbit College of the North West 3-1 at Harry Gwala Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
There was peace and harmony at Harry Gwala this afternoon following Friday’s ugly scenes where uncontrollable Umsinga United [KZN] fans flocked onto the pitch posing security concerns for players after the side succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to Orbit.
SAFA KZN Chairperson Kwenzakwakhe Ngwenya came forward to condemn the barbaric behaviour caused by the fans.
Despite all the challenges the both sides went through to reach the national playoffs, the two teams responded well by reaching the finals of the tournament.
Orbit broke the deadlock five minutes into the game through an own goal by goalkeeper Kwazi Nxumalo.
However, the hosts came back stronger in the 37th minute as they found an equaliser courtesy of Willie Nel, who had a fantastic run in the tournament.
The showpiece went into the interval with a 0-0 scoreline.
In the second stanza, it was action-packed, with the North West club trying to add to the scoreline.
However, Upington regained their momentum and started piling pressure on their opponents – taking control of proceedings.
With that, Upington added two more goals by Daweron van Rhyn and Malakia Sefoli.
Orbit finished the match with 10-man after goalkeeper Johnny Mathole received a red card after committing a professional foul.
THE PRIZE MONEY
Upington walked away with the R1 2000 000 prize money, whereas Orbit pocketed R600 000.
The two sides will now compete in the Motsepe Foundation Championship as they finished as the top two finalists in the competition.
AWARD WINNERS
Atisang Batsi of Orbit TVET College was named Player of the Tournament.
Meanwhile, the Top goalscorer of the Tournament went to Willie Nel of Upington and Thobani Mthembu of Umsinga.
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