BURNING Stars FC, from Sihlaba Phezulu Village in Ngqamakhwe, wrote their own history over the weekend, when they beat the defending champions, Mtebele United, in the Mtebele Heritage Sport Development tournament final on Saturday afternoon.
Prior to the tournament, everyone was confident that Mtebele United, from Mtebele Village in Ngamakhwe would defend their title without any doubt, considering the small number of teams who joined the event and the current form of defending champions.
However, the football supporters had underestimated the hot Burning Stars.
The event was played by nine soccer teams from different villages around Mnquma and Mtebele United, Burning Stars FC, Mtebele Eagles and King Fighters were the four teams who managed to reach the semi-finals. In the first semi-final, Burning Stars defeated Mtebele Eagles 1-0, in their second game of the day. In the other semi-final, Mtebele United punished King Fighters from Centane, 2-0.
Then Burning Stars FC and Mtebele United played to a 0-0 draw during regulation time in final and the game went to penalties.
The Sihlaba Phezulu Village-based team (Burning Stars) won the game 7-6, beating the defending champions in their own backyard at Mtebele sports ground.
For winning the tournament, Burning Stars went home with a trophy, gold medals, a brand new soccer kit and R2 000. The runners-up got a soccer kit, silver medals and R1 000.
Mtebele United Netball Club defeated Burning Stars Netball Club in the netball final.
Both teams received kit and an undisclosed amount of money.
