Simola XI stays on top

KNYSNA FOOTBALL NEWS - Simola's soccer team was last week crowned winners of the very first KLFA Industrial League Top 6 tournament, overcoming Food Lover's Market in a tightly contested final.

Before March this year, Knysna Local Football Association (KLFA) had no formal league structure in place for the industrial soccer teams in and around Knysna.

This all changed when the Industrial League was born, adding to the existing Easter and Oyster Festival tournaments that were already in place for the industrial teams.

The new league kicked off with nine sides from Knysna companies and associations, comprising Simola, Food Lover's Market, SA Police Service (SAPS), Knysna Saints, African Stars, Retail, Try Again, Ghana Knysna, and Taxi Drivers.

Simola would end up dominating the industrial soccer scene for the year, managing to bring home first prize in all three competitions – the Industrial League as well as the Easter and Oyster Festival tournaments.

They had a chance to add a fourth title to their trophy cabinet in the form of the KLFA Industrial League Top 6 tournament, which as its name implies, brought the top six teams from the previous season of the Industrial League together to lock horns. It is held in the same format as the MTN Top 8 tournament for Absa Premiership teams.

League coordinator Johnson Damons hands Neil Balie his winners medal after the final. Photos: Blake Linder

The tournament would play out in a manner that would see Simola and Food Lover's Market make it through to the final, with the two sides happening to be the two top teams from the previous season (Simola edged Food Lover's by two points for the title). The two teams would clash at Loerie Park on a chilly evening out on Monday 9 December, but this didn't halt any fiery action on the pitch.

Neither team was able to assert their dominance, with the match ebbing and flowing throughout the entire game. The result would have to be decided by either something special or a stroke of luck, with the latter falling in Simola's favour after a first-half strike from captain Chester May rebounded off the post and into the Food Lover's goalkeeper before ricocheting into the net.

There would be no other goals in the match, with Simola's goalkeeper coming to their rescue on a number of occasions to ensure they walked away with a 1-0 victory to complete a clean sweep of every Industrial League trophy on offer in 2019.

Simola's team and supporters celebrate their final victory with the trophy in hand. Photo: Blake Linder