Ramadan Mini Tournament: Burhan knock out favourites Gaza All Stars
By Michael Kirwa |
Villa Roma and Climbing Stars will face off on Thursday evening at the New Eastleigh Primary School ground.
A dramatic 4-3 penalty shootout win over Ramadan Cup champions Gaza All Stars saw Burhan march to the Ramadan Cup mini-tournament semfinals after the two teams had drawn 1-1 in tournament regulation time of 60 minutes.
Burhan, who play in the Zone B of the FKF Eastern Zone Division Two league, took the lead late in the first half but surrendered their advantage seven minutes after the restart when Gaza All Stars pulled one back.
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The tightly-contested match saw chances for both sides but the goalkeepers were alert to snuff out the danger.
As the final whistle signalled the match heading to a penalty shootout, there was fear among Burhan fans that their team will suffer the same fate as Wajir All Stars and Corner Legends did in the quarterfinal ties against Sharp and Xidigaha respectively.
Wajir All Stars and Corner Legends lost to their opponents 3-1 and 4-2 on penalties respectively after conceding late goals that saw their match end 1-1 in regulation time.
After both teams converted their kicks with Burhan having gone first, Burhan fans' fears seemed to have been confirmed after their team missed two consecutive kicks to allow Gaza to take a 2-1 lead.
However, Gaza failed to take most of their advantage after they missed their next two kicks allowing Burhan to draw level as both teams headed to the final round of kicks.
Both teams converted their fifth kicks hence extending the shootout to sudden death with the score at 3-3. Burhan took the lead in sudden death and their goalkeeper then made a save to win the contest for them.
Burhan will now meet the winner of tomorrow's quarterfinal match between Villa Roma and Climbing Stars.
Burhan's captain Yahya "Adebayor" Abdukadir expressed hope of his team going all the way.
"As a team, we thank Allah for this victory which did not come easy because we played the match while fasting," Yahya said.
"Gaza gave us a tough game and I am happy we were able to respond well during the penalty shootout to win the match. We look forward to winning the tournament because Burhan always plays to win," he added.
Yahya urged tournament organisers to increase the number of referees as it will improve officiating of matches.
"I think the referee did his best seeing that he was alone. Hopefully in future matches, there can be assistant referees so that some incidents cannot go unnoticed," Yahya said.
Burhan used the match to prepare for their FKF Division Two League match on Sunday against Gituru FC at the Pangani Grounds. The match will kick off at 3 pm.
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