Banyana Banyana cruised into the final of the Cosafa Women’s Championship after beating Uganda 2-0 in their semifinal encounter at Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Thursday.
Goals from Linda Motlhalo and Jermaine Seoposnwe were enough for Banyana to clinch the berth in the final and book themselves a date with Cameroon in Saturday’s final showpiece which is likely to be a classic clash between two old rivals.
Cameroon booked their spot against South Africa with 1-0 victory over Zambia in the other playoff match earlier in the day.
There was a large and partisan crowd in KwaZakhele on Thursday and the home side did their best to entertain their loyal fans with some attractive soccer.
Banyana could have won by a larger margin had they buried numerous chances but in the end, two goals got the job done in qualifying for their sixth consecutive final in this competition.
There were a host of early chances for Banyana but they eventually took the lead in the 37th minute of the game when Linda Motlhalo side-footed her shot across the mouth of the goal and into the net.
South Africa were the more attacking side in the first half but wasted chance after chance.
The only real opportunity for Uganda came in the 40th minute when Resty Nanziri found herself inside the box and one-on-one with Gevandale-born goalkeeper Kaylin Swart, who pulled off a good save.
Thembi Kgatlana did a great job crossing the ball to the relevant people inside the box but players failed to convert their chances into goals.
Banyana continued with their attacking form in the second half but the high tempo of the game faded a bit in the middle stages
Again they missed many opportunities on goal but they failed to put the ball at the back of the net.
It was only in the 68th minute that Seoposenwe extended her team’s lead to make it 2-0 by scoring her second goal of the tournament.
Banyana then picked up the tempo again and kept on pressing for the third goal but with no luck.
Earlier, a late goal from Mbeleck Genevieve Edith saw Cameroon secure themselves a place in final beating Zambia 1-0 in the earlier semifinal played at the same venue.
Central African guest nation Cameroon advance to the semifinals as the best-placed runner-up.
Both teams started off on a positive note in search for an early goal but their attempts proved fruitless.
But it was only in the 77th minute that Edith broke the deadlock and put her team in the lead and win
Remaining fixtures:
Bronze medal, Friday: 11am: Zambia v Uganda. Saturday, final: Noon, South Africa v Cameroon..