Easter tournament kicks off

ALL eyes will be on the Mofa Big Daddy's, Heineken and Motherwell Build-It Easter Tournament which kicks off at the NU2 Stadium on Thursday evening.

The tournament carries the biggest cash prize on offer in the metro with the winners pocketing R18000 and the runners-up R15000. The tournament has attracted teams from as far afield as Cape Town.

Lion City, one of the three teams locked in the battle for the Safa-NMB League title, are the defending champions.

The Premier League race is hotting up as several of the frontrunners dropped crucial points.

With Ikamva Movers not fixtured due to the death of their coach Mandla "Bricks" Swartbooi, who was buried on Saturday, the chasing pack failed to close the gap.

Crystal Palace ended Young Madrid's winning streak when they beat the title contenders 3-2, with Mlungiseleli Honi scoring a hat-trick .

The game was played at a high tempo, but both teams failed to score in the first half.

After Honi had given Palace a 2-0 lead Melikhaya Matwa put Madrid back in the game with a well-struck goal. After Honi completed his hat-trick Madrid never gave up as Vuyo Sabalela pulled one back, but it was too little too late.

Defending champions Shining Stars also dropped crucial points as they were held to a 1-1 draw by their hoodoo team Highland Spurs. Spurs led 1-0 at halftime with a goal by Norhushu Andile. Mani Siyanda earned Stars a share of the points.

Results: Real Aces 4 Young Romans 2, Liverpool 1 Tottenham Spurs 0, Milan Stars 3 Young Tigers 2, Manchester United 3 Young Ideas 1, Subs 0 Lion Stars 0, Tomorrow Stars 1 Real Strikers 1, Highland Spurs 1 Shining Stars 1, Crystal 3 Young Madrid 2. - Mogan Segadavan