Riverheights Football Academy and DAMA SC produced dazzling two-legged semifinal matches in the U/15 of the HopSol completion, with the two teams drawing both matches one-all and leaving their fate to the dreaded penalty shootout.
The penalty shootout went the way of Okurayangava-based Riverheights, who converted all their penalties to win by a 4-2 scoreline after DAMA SC missed two penalties.
The entertaining second-leg quarterfinal match was played at the Jan Möhr Football Field over the weekend, and it produced great football as both teams showed the hunger to progress to the next stage of this year’s competition.
However, just as in the first leg, the two sides could not be separated in regulation time as they produced a 1-1 result.
Coach Larry Luya of Riverheights FA said they started off on a bad note in the first half but managed to secure a goal when DAMA SC looked like they were on course to progress to the next round.
“It was not that bad in the first half as we had a lot of chances, and when it came to the second half, the luck was not really on our side in the way we tried to play,” he said.
Luya added that he cannot understand why his charges could not finish off the match because at training, they were clinical.
“I don’t know what happened with the boys because, at the training ground, we finished off such chances. Our plan was to attack because we did not want to sit back; we wanted to use our wings more and bring in crosses from the sides, but that only happened in the first half; in the second half, we just could not replicate it. I also think the hot weather conditions played a role. It was quite hot today (Saturday), which gave our opponents an upper hand, I think. But I am happy they put their best foot forward. The only thing we need to work on is up front, especially the finishing,” he said.
DAMA SC coach Silas Shimakeleni felt that it was a tough game, as they knew Riverheights to be a tough opponent.
“We always try to make sure to win a match within the time allocated to avoid a penalty shootout. We had enough chances to kill this match, but unfortunately, my boys got excited and failed to convert. Congratulations to Riverheights; they pushed us very hard,” he said.
He said overall, as a club, they are happy with how they performed this year, as they have improved, adding that last year, they did not make it to the knockout stages.
“This season, we made it to the round of 16 and came to the quarterfinals. We are very excited for the boys, as DAMA was leading the group and came this far, it’s something to be proud of,” he explained.
Shimakeleni will now focus on next season, as the younger boys from the U/13 will now graduate to the current squad, which looks promising.
“Some of our U/15s are leaving, but we are always happy to get new reinforcements. We like to play around with new ideas based on the players we get and the boys that are remaining, we always keep them on their toes so that they cannot become comfortable, so we can come back stronger,” he concluded.