During the 1970s and 1980s while working for the
Daily News and the Press Trust of SA News Agency most of my articles on soccer related
to the struggles for the establishment of non-racial soccer, non-racial sport
and a non-racial society in general. But at the same time, I also covered professional
matches related to the Federation Professional League (FPL).
One such FPL match was the Coca Cola Shield final
between Berea of Durban and Sundowns of Pretoria at the mecca of non-racial
sport, Currie’s Fountain, on November 14 1976.
I did a preview of the match and this was surprisingly
published on the main sports back page on November 13 1976 under the headline: “We’ll
win tomorrow!” and the sub-headlines: “That’s what both Berea and Sundowns are saying
about their replay.”, and “25 000 fans can expect a treat at Currie’s
Fountain.”
The story read:
Berea manager Don Mudaly and his Sundowns
counterpart, Cliffe Andrews, are both cocksure that their respective teams will
emerge victorious in the R12 500 Federation’s Coca Cola shield final
replay at Currie’s Fountain tomorrow.
Mudaly and Andrews are confident that their players
will dish out the same brand of football that earned them high praise after the
epic final last week. It ended in a 3-3 draw before more than 30 000 fans.
Mudaly, an enthusiastic young man who has managed the
Durban team for the past three years, said:
RECOVERY
“We could have sewn up the match last week, but our
boys missed a number of gilt-edged chances. Despite the poor showing of some of
the players, we managed to pull back after a 2-0 deficit at half-time.
“Our recovery has put us in the right frame of mind
and I think we have a psychological advantage over Sundowns tomorrow.
“We admit that our opponents are a top team, but we
have one or two things up our sleeve to overcome them.”
And Andrews, a genial sports administrator who has
steered Sundowns to its present height of glory, said:
ATTACK
“We are working on a plan, but at this stage it will
be unwise of me to divulge our strategy against Berea. I can assure you that we
will not be making the same mistakes like last week.
“We may have one or two changes because some of our
players are on the injury list. Tomorrow’s match will decide who are the
kingpins in our league.”
Scampy Biseswar, the tough Berea striker who was
suspended for six matches, will come out of cold storage to strengthen the
attack that seemed inept and out of touch against the strong and witty Sundowns
defence, ably led by skipper Neville Williams.
Biseswar, if chosen for the final line-up, will be of
tremendous assistance to fiery left-winger, James George, and teenage “bomber”,
Stanley Govender, who proved his mettle last week by notching two of Berea’s three
goals.
Missing from the Berea line-up will be wing-half,
Vicky Vally, who left on a delayed honeymoon to Europe this week. His place
will most probably by taken-up by the fast-tackling Angus McPhail.
FEARED
The players who are expected to play a key role in
the Berea side will be Daya Maistry, Gavin Snyman, and Charles Carey in
defence, and James George, Pat Blair, Govender, and Dudu Munsamy in attack.
Sundowns, in their first year in professional
football in the league, will rely heavily on Williams, Don Lucas, Jacques Lucas
and Clifford Dirksen in defence and dribbling wizard Vincent Julius and wily
Gene Adams in attack.
Julius, who has been priced at R25 000 by the
Pretoria team, is one of the most feared front runners in the country. His
potential to leave defences at sixes and sevens was clearly shown last week when
on many an occasion he outwitted evergreen Daya Maistry, Vicky Vally and Gavin
Snyman in the Berea defence.
The match itself promises to be another pulsating and
electrifying affair, as the stakes are high. Beside the honour in winning the
coveted Coca Cola shield, a great deal of money is in for the taking.
The expected capacity crowd are in for another treat
and can be assured that proper seating will be provided for all.
Mr S K Chetty, secretary of the Federation
Professional League, said today the league would make provision for 25 000
people only.
“The house-full sign will go up once the stadium is
full,” he said.
He said the gates would open at 10am and the first
match would be played at 11am between Tulip Rangers and Coleen Athletics in the
Southern Natal Soccer Board’s third division league decider.
The curtain raiser to the final will be the SNSB’s
Coca Cola cup final between Leeds of Wentworth and Durban Suburbs of Tills Crescent.
The main match will kick off at 3pm.
The referee for the big game is Lingiah Munsamy and
his linesmen are Dawood Shaikh and Keith Nelson. Ends – Daily News Reporter – Marimuthu Subramoney
November 13 1976
No comments:
Post a Comment