The Sihle Mtshali Tournament top 16 which took place at Greenhouse Grounds, in Lawley 2, kept footballer lovers entertained from 5-12 August 2023.
Statement from tournament organiser – Sibonelo Mtshali
People from all walks of life came in numbers to support their favourite teams.
Football
The tournament was opened by a match between LTW (Ennerdale) and SGS (Lawley). The opening served the spectators with beautiful football to set the stage for the upcoming matches.
The first round of the last 16 was played on Saturday, 5 August while the quarter-finals were played on Wednesday 9 August.
The Semi-final and Final were played on 12 August which saw Dibaba Stars (Soweto) and DB Burundi (Lawley) playing the final.
FINAL
Greenhouse Grounds was packed with spectators betting on their favourite team to clinch the title.
The match started with both teams being too tactical and technical as they played it safe.
Mduduzi Marenene Burundi’s winger nearly broke the deadlock as he received a pass from Siphasihle Zwane but took it wide.
Just 10 minutes after the start of the second half Dibaba Stars opened with a scoring mistake from Burundi’s Goalkeeper Ayanda Khumalo failing to handle the ball.
Dibaba Stars held on to that goal which saw them crowned Champions of the Sihle Mtshali Top 16 tournament.
Sibonelo “Pastor” Mtshali congratulated to Dibaba stars for making history in Lawley.
“In under 20 DB Burundi has not been beaten for about 2 years now at Greenhouse but they (Dibaba) stunned everyone. I’m happy that people came in numbers and enjoyed our football. To all the teams that participated thanks to all of them,” said Pastor.
Teams that participated are; DB Burundi (Lawley), SGS (Lawley), Layoso ( Lawley), KvK (Lawley), Real Stars ( Lenasia South), Dream Team (Lenasia South), Vaal Manchester ( Vaal), Juventus (Majazane), Whooves ( Majazane), Wolves (Majazane), River Park ( Soweto), Dibaba Stars ( Soweto), Phiri Logan ( Soweto) and LTW ( Ennerdale)
In other events, Layoso Academy won netball top 4 while the under 13 trophy in football was clinched by Spartans.
