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06 February 2020
TS Sporting sealed their place in the Last 16 of the Nedbank Cup with a thrilling 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory over Ajax Cape Town after the teams played to a 2-2 draw at the Athlone Stadium on Thursday. Sporting were boosted by the performances of two former Nedbank Ke Yona Team players as Katlego Mojela scored his first Nedbank Cup goal, and Ricardo Versuur put in an excellent performance at right-back.
Mojela had come off the bench and looked to have won the game for Sporting when he netted in extra-time, joining the likes of Aubrey Modiba, Bongani Sam and Ian Chikohwa as former Ke Yona Team players to score in the Nedbank Cup. Sporting took the lead on 17 minutes with a neat goal, Wagaba was released in between the Ajax centre-backs and he coolly slotted past debutant home goalkeeper Darren Johnson.
Ajax missed a number of chances to equalise after that, but finally got their goal a minute from full-time when Grant Margeman’s cross from the right was headed home by Sonwabile Mfecane, much to the delight of the home fans. It appeared as though the momentum was with Ajax at that point, but Mojela turned the tables on them as he robbed the defender of the ball and raced clear to score with a final finish Sporting might have thought they did enough to win the game outright, but Ajax were level again on 115 minutes as Siphesihle Mkhize bunded the ball home from a corner-kick. That took the game to penalties, where Versuur comfortably converted his spot-kick. Ajax missed two kicks though and that gave Sporting goalkeeper Oscarine Masuluke the chance to net the winner as he drilled the ball into the top-corner. The action will continue on Friday with an al-Premier League clash as Stellenbosch FC host Maritzburg United at the Athlone Stadium. Kick-off is at 20h00.
Tickets for the Nedbank Cup Last 32 are on sale at TicketPro outlets and selected SASOL garages countrywide. Prices will start at R40 for adults, and R15 for children under the age of 12. Supporters can also purchase tickets online at www.ticketpros.co.za.
*The views represented are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent those of Nedbank.