26 June 2018 – The fourth edition of the National Futsal League hosted by the South African Indoor Football Association (SAIFA) concluded its season’s activities with a knockout cup competition and awards presentation this past weekend which took place at the YMCA in Pietermaritzburg.
“Everything went off well with regards to organizing the tournament and the standard of Futsal continues to improve and this was evident during the tournament”, said Ebrahim Hossen, Secretary General of SAIFA.
The seven franchise clubs that participated in the league contested the knockout cup competition which started on Friday 22 June with the final being played the following evening.
All teams played each other once in the first round and then the top four teams contested the semifinals. At the end of the first round, the top two teams were decided by goal difference as they were tied on points and the same applied to the third and fourth teams.
In the first semi final, defending champions Ethekwini City beat OBC Chicken 9-4 and booked their place in the final. The second semifinal was contested by the two local teams, namely, Young Natalians and Maritzburg Hotspurs who entertained the crowd with end to end action for the entire match. When the final whistle was sounded, Maritzburg Hotspurs were victorious by beating Young Natalians by 7 – 5 and booked their spot in the final for the first time.
In the final, Maritzburg Hotspurs were beaten 6-1by Ethekwini City with Radlin Sanssoucie scoring a hatrick and a brace from Brenlin Haynes. Radlin Sanssoucie was the highest goal scorer with 13 goals and also bagged the player of the tournament award.
Special Awards:
U21 player of the season – Nickkyle Samson (Maritzburg Hotspurs)
Goalkeeper of the season – Muziwakhe Mazibuko (Ethekwini City)
Coach of the season – Gregory Nair (Young Natalians)
Top goal scorer of the season – Angelo Johannes (Western Province Eagles)
Player of the season – Quincy Ngcobo (Young Natalians)
In addition to the above, the match officials, match commissioners and the players that represented our country were acknowledged for their contribution to the game.
U21 player of the season, Nickkyle Samson
Top goal scorer of the season – Angelo Johannes
Coach of the season – Gregory Nair
Player of the season – Quincy Ngcobo