Banyana Banyana cruised into the final of the Cosafa Women’s Championship after beating Uganda 2-0 in their semifinal encounter at the Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Thursday.
Goals from Linda Motlhalo and Jermaine Seoposnwe were enough for Banyana to clinch a berth in the final and book themselves a date with Cameroon in Saturday’s showpiece, which is likely to be a classic clash between two old rivals.
Cameroon booked their spot against SA with a 1-0 victory over Zambia in the other playoff match earlier in the day.
There was a large and partisan crowd in Kwazakhele on Thursday and the home side did their best to entertain their loyal supporters with some attractive soccer.
Banyana could have won by a larger margin had they buried numerous chances, but in the end two goals got the job done in qualifying for their sixth consecutive final in this competition.
There were a host of early chances for Banyana but they eventually took the lead in the 37th minute when Motlhalo side-footed her shot across the mouth of the goal and into the net.
SA were the more attacking side in the first half but wasted chance after chance.
The only real opportunity for the visitors came in the 40th minute when Resty Nanziri found herself inside the box and one-on-one with Gelvandale-born goalkeeper Kaylin Swart, who pulled off a good save.
Thembi Kgatlana did a great job crossing the ball to the relevant players inside the box but they failed to convert their chances into goals.
Banyana continued with their attacking form in the second half but the high tempo of the game faded a bit in the middle stages.
Again, they missed many opportunities on goal, failing to put the ball at the back of the net.
It was only in the 68th minute that Seoposenwe extended her team’s lead to make it 2-0 by scoring her second goal of the tournament.
Banyana then picked up the tempo again and kept on pressing for the third goal, but with no luck. The scoreline remained unchanged and Banyana were left to celebrate their victory and progression into the final.
Earlier, a late goal from Mbeleck Genevieve Edith saw Cameroon secure themselves a place in the final when they beat Zambia 1-0 in the other semifinal at the Wolfson Stadium.
Central African guest nation Cameroon had advanced to the semifinals as the bestplaced runner-up.
They came into yesterday’s match having scored 14 goals in their three group games.
Both teams started off on a positive note in search of an early goal but their attempts proved fruitless.
Cameroon pressed for a goal as early as the sixth minute but Zambia’s Martha Tembo cleared the ball from the goal line to deny Cameroon an early score.
There were precious chances at goal on target throughout the first half of the game.
In the second half, it was Cameroon who proved more hungry for the win and kept coming at Zambia, trying to breach their defences.
But it was only in the 77th minute that Edith broke the deadlock and put her team in the lead, a situation they maintained until the final whistle.
Remaining fixtures:
Friday, bronze medal match 3pm: Zambia v Uganda Saturday, final Noon: South Africa v Cameroon