Posted on December 12, 2011 07:23
Football and Rugby fans in the Free State were in for a special treat on Saturday 10 December 2011 when Bloemfontein Celtic and Free State Stars as well as Toyota Cheetahs and Tasol Griffons crossed swords in the inaugural Reconciliation Challenge.
The historic event also featured curtain raisers involving supporters of the participating rugby and soccer teams.
The historic event was organized by the Free State provincial government in partnership with the Free State soccer and rugby teams to mark this year’s National Day of Reconciliation which is celebrated on the 16 December.
The opening match and curtain raisers of the day saw Cheetahs walloping Ea Lla Koto supporters 39- 0 in the rugby category whilst Stars supporters cruised to a 2- 0 win over Cheetahs in the football category. Stars Bethlehem Supporters club chairperson Jan Rathebe received a man of the match accolade.
In the much anticipated derby between Stars and Siwelele Togolese striker Zakari Morou scored the only goal of the match in the 17th minutes to help Stars lift the inaugural Reconciliation cup.
From the first whistle Ea Lla Koto showed clear indications that they are not occupying the third spot on the log by fluke as they attacked Siwelele from the first whistle. Ea Lla Koto broke the deadlock in the 17th minutes when Morou headed a pin point cross from Tshidiso Mosikili to beat Siwelele keeper Thabang Stemmer hand down.
Five minutes later Morou could have made it two after his effort was saved by keeper Stemmer. In the 39 minutes Siwelele Danny Venter forced a save on Stars keeper Ayanda Mtshali following a solo effort run on the left but his latter shot was saved by the keeper.
With 5 minutes to go to full time Stars Phumlani Mhamha fouled Lethola Mofokeng inside the box and the referee did not hesitate to point the ball into the penalty spot. The big Nigerian striker Ezenwa Otorogu ballooned the ball over the bar. The final score was 1- 0 to Ea Lla Koto.