Regional league off the ground

KNYSNA FOOTBALL NEWS - Following on from the Safa Eden Nedbank Cup playoffs, the Safa Eden Regional League 2021/22 season commenced this past weekend with the Knysna and Plettenberg Bay sides all getting off to decent starts.

The Safa Eden Nedbank Cup playoffs were held with great success in and around Knysna on 23 and 24 October, with Knysna sides CX Celtics and FC United clashing in the final.

It was the latter who emerged triumphant with a score of 3-1 to secure progress to the next round of qualification for the Nedbank Cup.

This, coupled with the fact that they finished second in the league last season, would see FC United go into the first weekend of fixtures on a bit of a high, hoping to get their 2021/22 campaign off to a good start.

With all fixtures set to take place on Saturday 30 October, both FC United and CX Celtics travelled to George to take on Paris United and Burning Fire in alternating fixtures between the sports fields in Rosemoor and Lawaaikamp. New kids on the regional block Red Eagles were fortunate to enjoy home fixtures in Hornlee against Moonlight and Infantry. These two sides also faced Plett's Oriented Birds (OBI) in Kwanokuthula.

Red Eagles player Theo Snyman (red) is dispossessed by a Moonlight player.

The first round of games kicked off across Eden at 11:00, with OBI and Infantry playing out to a 1-1 draw in Kwano.

Red Eagles meanwhile got their first Regional League season off to a dream start with a 7-2 win against Moonlight. CX Celtics also got their first win of the season, beating Burning Fire 4-2. It was also a welcome start for FC United who beat Paris United 3-2.

The second round of fixtures for the CX sides was at 15:00 with OBI and Red Eagles swapping opponents, and FC United and CX Celtics doing the same. OBI undoubtedly put up the best second-game performance, dispatching Moonlight 8-3. Red Eagles were brought back down from their temporary high courtesy of a 5-3 loss to Infantry. CX Celtics and FC United both played out to 1-1 draws in their second games, with the former drawing against Paris United and the latter against Burning Fire.

The results see OBI stand in fifth place after the first weekend of fixtures on four points. CX Celtics and FC United are also on four points and in seventh and eighth respectively. Red Eagles stand on three points in ninth place.

Rushane Davids plays a cross-field pass to a teammate.