Ladies' plan to grab title going well

PORT Elizabeth side Liverpool Ladies' aspirations of winning the Eastern Cape Sasol Women's League title are on track after they drew 1-1 with Thunderbirds at the Estiyeni Higher Primary School sports ground in Zwide on Sunday. The provincial women's football league championship has been dominated by City Lads for the past few years. Veeplaas-based Ladies were under pressure in the first half of the game when the visitors registered their opening goal of the match. Ladies were determined to equalise before the half-time break but Thunderbirds kept the home side at bay. Ladies came back strongly in the second half and former Banyana Banyana defender Amanda Sister levelled the scores. Ladies manager Akhona Totwana said the girls played very well but they always struggled when they played in hot conditions. "We showed characters and we came back into the game after we were down by a single goal. It was a well-balanced game and the results were good for both teams, but our aim was to go into our next away match occupying the top position on the log." Ladies are now in second spot on the log table, sharing the same number of points with log-leaders Lads, but with an inferior goal difference. Meanwhile, Lads failed to extend their lead on top of the log table when they draw 2-2 against their arch-rivals Manchester Babes at the Jabavu Stadium at the weekend. The first half of the game was tough because both teams missed a lot of scoring chances and they went into the break without any goals being scored. The home side, Babes, scored the opening goal of the match in the second half through a shot by Daniswa Blaauw. Andiswa Ndesi scored for Lads to level the scores 1-1. Ndesi scored her brace to put Lads in the lead but Sesethu Sikhothi equalised for Babes in the last minutes of the game. In another match, Port Elizabeth outfit Mustangs Ladies crushed the University of Fort Hare 5-0 in their match at the Old Grey ground on Saturday. The goals were scored by Courtney Nanan, Vuyo Bonya and Sandisiwe Nohayi while Justene-rae Watermeyer scored a brace. Ladies goalkeeper Simoney Clarke made a great penalty save during the second half to maintain her team's clean sheet. East London women's football side Birmingham humiliated Continental Express 9-0 at the Wolfson Stadium on Saturday. Express are at the bottom of the log table with no points after losing both the league games played so far this season. - Mthetho Ndoni