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Amazulu Win Derby

Amazulu celebrate their 3-2 win over local rivals Maritzburg United (Alegi photo)

The PSL season in KwaZulu-Natal opened with an exciting goal-filled derby in front of a small but vociferous crowd at Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Hosts Amazulu nipped Maritzburg United 3-2, making us temporarily forget about the countrywide strikes that are turning patients away from hospitals, keeping students out of school, and possibly shutting our water off tomorrow.

12 minutes into the match a free kick finds the head of a diving Ayanda Dlamini who loops it over Shu-Aib Walters: 1-0 Amazulu.

Ayanda Dlamini's header gives Amazulu the lead. Note the empty seats (Alegi photo).

Ten minutes later Namibian striker Rudolph Bester drew Maritzburg United level courtesy of a goalkeeping blunder off another set play. Traveling fans were quieted once more after Majoro headed in a perfectly calibrated Hadebe cross on 38 minutes. 2-1 at the break.

Now that's halftime entertainment! (Alegi photo)

The second half had two gems. 53rd minute: Mkhonza scores a spectacular own goal — a lob over Mzimela from 30 meters out! 91st minute: Dlamini finishes off a sweet move with a sterling game-winning strike just inside the box. The yin of Usuthu fans’ celebration versus the yang of Maritzburgers’ grief.

Amazulu women supporters praise their heroes' victory (Alegi photo)

While far from a technical and tactical masterpiece, this derby had lots of goals, blunders, and an emotionally charged finish. Well worth the price of admission!

Maritzburg fans stunned into silence (Alegi photo)

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Vuvuzela 1 PSL 0

Gxabi_Ngwepe

A family night out with 6,000 friends. Maritzburg United vs Amazulu: KwaZulu-Natal derby in the round of 32 of the Nedbank Cup, South Africa’s FA Cup. At kickoff, deafening kwaito music gives way to a cacophony of vuvuzelas. Not exactly kid friendly, but there it is. The relaxed mood of this Saturday night crowd, a pleasant mix of men, women and children of all backgrounds, makes up for the dreadful football on display.

The home side is slightly more enterprising in the second half, but deep into injury time the visitors’ Brad Ritson scores a counter-attack winner. Cruel. Final.

As we, the deflated masses, leave the friendly confines of Harry Gwala Stadium, I found myself wondering — again — why PSL teams played such awful soccer on a regular basis. Then I thought of the wisdom shared by Thabo Dladla, director of Izichwe Youth Football (where my daughter plays), in his column this week:

‘The idea of playing and keeping the ball longer does not exist . . . [with] less than 100 completed passes in most PSL matches’ Dladla writes, ‘I doubt if Lionel Messi would have played under most South African coaches. [In the apartheid era] football played a huge role in entertaining people. It was important to win in style. Both players and fans had a lot of fun during a game. These days one sees more creativity in the grandstands than on the field’. And as much as I viscerally detest the vuvuzela’s sonic pollution, it is the truth.

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