PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Safa Eden Region 2022/23 season champions Oriented Birds Football Club kicked off their Western Cape ABC Motsepe Provincial League campaign with a positive result when they sank Seaside Spurs 2-1 in an entertaining semi-professional encounter on Saturday 12 October at Kwanokuthula Stadium.
The high-flying Oriented Birds, fondly known as the "Yellow Marines", recorded their first three-point win in the Provincial league.
Siyanda "Sporho" Madlala and Sibusiso Maziko scored the two vital goals for the Birds, while experienced 37-year-old forward Diego Brown netted the solitary goal for Seaside Spurs, formerly known as Antalyspor JPM Cape Town.
Exceptional performance
Madlala had an exceptional game, putting pressure on the visitors' backline, which later led to him scoring the opening goal for the Yellow Marines.
Seaside Spurs were playing their debut WC ABC Motsepe league game - the club purchased the franchise of Antalyspor JPM Cape Town.
The Birds' game against them started at a fast pace, with Spurs building their passes from the backline, trying to open up more space on the field.
A strike by Seaside Spurs, taking advantage of their first chance of the game, went wide.
Oriented Birds took the game to them after absorbing dangerous pressure. With 20 minutes of the game gone, Madlala struck a powerful shot from the right side of the field and beat Seaside Spurs' goalkeeper, making it 1-0.
Chasing the game
The Cape Town team then chased the game, looking for an equalising goal.
Negating their efforts, the Birds players Thabiso "Mashumi" Minana and Mduduzi "Mdu" Nsele controlled the game from the centre of the field - supported by Madlala.
But Spurs kept on pressing hard, looking for more chances, using their strength on the ball.
In response lanky forward Maziko, a former Premier Soccer League player, struck the Birds' second goal, just before the half-time whistle.
The second half saw both teams looking very sharp on the ball, with the visitors, coming back very strongly, employing the pace of Diego Brown and Ryan Serfontein to turn Oriented Birds' defenders around.
Spurs took a shot at goal from a set piece, the ball going over the woodwork.
Excellent work
Abonga Matthews of Oriented Birds then tried his luck from a free kick, but his shot was denied by Seaside Spurs' goalkeeper.
Spurs played with more confidence during the last minutes of the game, and, after excellent work from the centre of the field, Brown netted a goal, making it 2-1.
The final result saw the Birds collecting maximum points at home.
Oriented Birds' opponents in Safa WC stream B are, Royal Blues (Central Karoo), Maties (Cape Winelands), Mbekweni Cosmos (Cape Winelands), Ammar Soccer Academy (Cape Winelands), Salim United (Overberg), Infantry School (Eden), Barcelona (Central Karoo), Ubuntu Spartans (Central Karoo), Hanover Park (Cape Town), Seaside Spurs (Cape Town) and Santos (Cape Town).
‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’
