Phantom Wolves triumphs in soccer tournament

OUDTSHOORN NEWS - The local Phantom Wolves soccer team reigned victorious over the weekend at the Eden Football Academy (EFA) u. 13-grassroots mini-football tournament that was hosted at the Infantry School's sports grounds.

The tournament kicked off at 10:00 with a packed pavilion filled with enthusiastic parents that came to support the teams.

As expected, the competition was ferocious with none of the participating teams that included the Alpha FC (Infantry School Village kids), Alpha Lighting (As Kamp / Smartie Town), Bongolethu Primary School, Oudtshoorn Tigers FC, Oukas Panthers FC, Phantom Wolves (Bridgton), Principia Independent School and Rising Stars (Bridgton and De Villiers Primary School) willing to give an inch from the get-go.

Regular dust smokes on all four soccer pitches confirmed the players' willingness to boot the leather of the soccer ball if it meant they could secure the bag.

In the end, the Rising Stars, Aqua Lighting, Phantom Wolves and Alpha FC -teams came out on top in the winners' section, while Bongolethu PS, Oudtshoorn Tigers, Oukas and Principia contested the plate section knockout stages.

The grand final of the day between the Phantom Wolves and Aqua Lighting was simply an enthralling contest to behold with neither of the teams conceding any goals at the halftime break.

Phantom Wolves on several occasions attacked from set-pieces that came about from structured play down the flanks, while the defenders of Aqua Lightning cleverly absorbed all the pressure, only to quickly counter-attack hoping to catch the opponent wanting in their last line of defence.

Neither of these strategies prevailed with the teams still locked at 0 - 0 after the end of an exciting and enterprising match - sending the encounter into a sudden death penalty shoot-out decider.

After two blocked and miscued strike attempts from the penalty spot-kick, it was eventually an accurate thunderous bolt that propelled the Wolves team into victory.

In the plate finals, it was Bongolethu Primary School that proved too strong for Oukas Panthers thumping them with two goals to nought.

Andre Alexander from EFA expressed his gratitude towards the Infantry School, Rural Sports Development Component of DCAS, OLFA) and SUFF Youth Cafe as well as all the sponsors for their involvement to host the tournament.