Saturday, March 18, was a sunny afternoon, with a southerly breeze blowing across the Laudium Stadium and Durban Expats had a score to settle with Laudium Old Boys (LOB).
The match was played over four quarters of 20 minutes each. On kick-off, Expats made their intentions clear. They held possession of the ball and played their fluent style of one touch football. A defensive error and a few good passes saw LOB take the lead through Ismail Gani’s finish.
The men in blue then came out more determined and scored three goals in the second quarter, with a long range effort by Vish Rajput, that held up in the southerly wind and beat Abdoola Paan in the LOB goals.
In the third quarter, a free kick outside Laudium Old Boys 18 area, saw Expats take a 4-1 lead through a clinical free kick by Kreason Govender. LOB down but not out, scored 2 goals before the break to trail by one goal.
In the last quarter, a change of tactics master minded by Shabir Juma saw LOB take the lead 5-4 with 2 goals scored, one each by Ahmed Osman Essa and Naeem Alli. With 2 minutes to play the ever determined Expats scored the equaliser to end a game played with lots of sportsmanship and minimum disruption..
The teams completed the afternoon with a lovely meal … this match was in preparation for a tournament in Durban that the Expats are co-hosting and participating in, for a very noble cause …a minimum of 200 hampers are going to be distributed to underprivileged families during the tournament. We at LOB wish the Expats all the best in this venture.
