F.C Bethulie

NOT OUR DAY!

After a thriller of a match on thursday, FC Bethulie and Strikers locked horns on Sunday afternoon. FC Bethulie created a lot of chances but could not convert even from the penalty spot. Strikers had a few chances and converted only 1 and the game ended 1-0 in favour of Strikers.

The 4-4 thriller on thursday drained the FC Bethulie players and could be one of the reasons for the unconvincing performance. When the two teams met on thursday, FC Bethulie had to come from 3-0 down to force a 4 all draw and to ultimately win 3-1 on penalties to claim the first prize.

 BACK WHERE WE BELONG!

Sunday the 17th of March saw FC Bethulie reclaiming its "champions" status.  In a tournament of 4 teams, FC Bethulie first played with Real Eagles in the semi finals and won by 4 goals to 1 in a closely contested match with both teams missing a lot of opportunities. The first goal came from Tseko Ntomane after winning the ball in the midfield, he played himself through and scored his first goal in the colours of FCB. The usual suspect Nikani Bulelani scored a brace with the other goal coming from his partner in crime, Sizwe Poyo.

We then reclaimed our spot when we met Strikers in the final.  The first goal came from a corner that was played in by Sizwe Poyo and was headed in by Nikani Bulelani. He then scored his second goal of the match minutes later when Siya Diniso won the ball in the midfield and passed it to Sizwe poyo who played a lovely through pass to Nikani Bulelani, and the rest is history.  Strikers then pulled one goal back minutes later but the resilience of FCB was evident when Makhofola Thabiso played a lovely cross for Makhendlana Zukile who headed the ball against the hand of the defender and FCB got a penalty which was scored by Mafilika Bongani.

Sizwe Poyo was then red-carded after using unlawful language towards the referee when he was tackled from behind.  Strikers managed to score their second goal ten minutes before time.  FCB held on to the 3-2 lead and the game ended with the same score line. 

 BACK 2 BACK WINS!

With six wins in six consecutive matches, it's safe to say FCB has found its winning form. The team last lost a match when we were playing against R.Madrid in a 2-1 defeat. Since then the team has been beating every opponent that it faces (see current record under "Fixtures").  After the ten players who were chosen in the squad that went to play in Cape town(see "News")returned, the team took part in the Easter tournament in Bethulie from the 29th March to the 1st of April.

Our first game was against Ajax(from Smithfield) and we won by three goals to one, with goals coming from 'Balo', 'Kobiso' and a penalty by 'Tolos'.  The second game was against Real Madrid and was agian another walk-over for FCB winning 3-1.  The first goal was an own goal by 'Pino', the second and third goals were scored by Gcobani and 'Javo' respectively who were part of the squad that went to Capetown.

The Final of the tournament was against an experienced Strikers side that has been havin a good run of form too.  FCB went to half-time 2-0 up with both goals from our captain 'Bumba' (Nikani Bulelani).  Our goalkeeper 'Sbuda' denied Strikers a goal scoring opportunity when he saved a penalty and made other brilliant point-blank saves.  Strikers came back strongly in the second half and scored two quick goals to make it 2-2.  With about 5 minutes to go, the FCB supersub 'Sizwe' killed all hopes of coming back from Srikers with a well taken goal from 22 yards out to make it 3-2 to FC Bethulie.

 Freedom day top 16 tournament(Venterstad)

FC Bethulie took part in a top 16 tournament from the 27-28th April and played its first match against FAST 11 from venterstad. In an evenly matched tie, FCB found the back of the net through their leading goal scorer, Bulelani Bumba Nikani in the 82nd minute. The boys held on to the lead with Sibusiso Sbuda Morotlo saving a penalty in the last minute of the match and it ended 1-0 to FCB.

The quarter-final was played the following day on the 28th against FC PORTO from Novarlspont. The match went to half time 0-0 and FCB came back in the second half and scored 4 goals with three from Nikani 'Bumba' Bulelani and one from Thabiso Ramosie. The game ended 4-0 in favour of FCB.

Having only 30 min to rest, FCB went on to play YOUNG PIRATES from Colesberg in the semi finals.  Zena 'Mboma' Walter opened the scoring with a well taken header to make it 1-0 to FCB. Young pirates were awarded a penalty late in the first half and it went to half-time 1 all. The second half saw FCB creating numerous clear-cut chances and failing to score.  The game ended 2-1 in favour of Young Pirates after they scored early in the second half. 

 FREE STATE STARS TRIP

Nine players were chosen from FC Bethulie to be part of a squad that was representing Bethulie in Bethlehem in two matches that were played against development structures of Free State Stars.  The players are; Mkrola Solomzi, Mafilika Bongani, Ntomane Mojalefa, Selemo Kobiso, Ntomane Teko, Mncayi Lehlohonolo, Gcobani Jilose, Makhofola Thabo, and Nikani Bulelani.

The games were played on the 14th of July in Bethlehem.  The first game was against the under 19 of Free State Stars where the Squad won 2-1 with goals from Nikani Bulelani (Bumba) and Gqadu Frans (Mboma).  The second game was against the under 21 of Free State Stars and it ended 3-2 in favour of the squad.  Two goals came from Nikani Bulelani (Bumba) and the other one from Lebo Motlohi. 

 The squad left a good impression in Bethlehem to such an extent that the Free State Stars dev coach promised to return the match next year in easter, with the hope of taking a few players to be part of their development once they have accomodation for players outside Bethlehem.