Magesi players celebrates with fans during the 2024 Carling Knockout Cup semi-final at the King Zwelithini Stadium, Umlazi. BackpagePix
Smiso Msomi
Richards Bay FC (0) 0
Magesi FC (1) 1
Mashigo 27’
Magesi FC booked a place in their first ever cup final as they beat Richards Bay 1-0 at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday.
Dikwena tsa Meetse scored a scored halfway through the first half and protected it until the final whistle to keep their fairytale run in the cup going.
Clinton Larsen’s men will face either Marumo Gallants or Mamelodi Sundowns in the final.
The Limpopo based outfit showed grit and determination to manouvre their way through Orlando Pirates, TS Galaxy and Richards Bay took keep their dreams of a first trophy in the top flight.
Magesi silenced the home crowd when they opened the scoring through a calamitous mistake at the back in the 27th minute.
Right-wing back Tholang Mashigo showed his street wisdom as he latched onto a bad back pass by Tshepo Mabua before showing his composure to slot past Ian Otieno.
With already a few shocks under their belt in this competition, Magesi headed to Umlazi with a bounce on their step and with ambitions to keep their fairytale run going.
Standing in their way was a very experienced Richards Bay who tweaked their formation as well as their playing personnel.
For the first time this season, Brandon Truter deployed a 3-5-2 formation looking to counter the aerial threat of the visitors with three big defenders.
Truter also welcomed Yanela Mbuthuma back into his starting 11 after a brief suspension and it seemed the hosts were set up to benefit from his pace and movements off the ball.
Despite Richards Bay’s quick start, it was the visitors who flashed the first chance of the game their striker Wonderboy Makhubu showed his danger by linking up play but an attempted cross into the box was snatched by Ian Otieno before he could place a telling touch.
It took 22 minutes for the host to threaten their opponents as they called Chipezeze to make two good saves in a space of two minutes.
Mbuthuma’s header from just outside the six yard box got everyone on their feet after Tlakusani Mthethwa had threatened to open the scoring with a speculative shot.
The game hung on a knife edge at the half time break with both teams showing potential of claiming the victory on the day.
The memories of last season’s semi-final exit began to loom under cloudy conditions and when the 60th minute hit, they upped the ante once again calling on Chipezeze to make saves in quick succession.
The Zimbabwean born shot-stopper was determined not to lose his clean sheet as he made another blinding save in the 65th minute.
A well delivered ball into the box met the head of defender Keagan Allen but his attempt was acrobatically palmed around the goal by the keeper, raising the noise levels in Umlazi.
Needing external influence, Truter on former Kaizer Chiefs man Siyethemba Sithebe and the energetic Thulani Gumede for Justice Figuareido and Moses Mthembu with ten minutes of normal time to go.