Magesi FC’s fairytale run in the Carling Knockout Cup will in one way or another end in the final after they beat Richards Bay 1-0 in their semi-final on Saturday afternoon.
The newly-promoted side delivered another away win during this historic cup run, as Tshepo Mashigo’s first-half strike was enough to see them through to the November 23 final in Bloemfontein.
Magesi will now have to wait for Sunday other semi-final between Mamelodi Sundowns and Marumo Gallants to find out who they will play will play in the competition’s showpiece match.
With the win over Richards Bay, Magesi became the first newly-promoted team since Silver Stars in to 2003 to make the South African version of League Cup final. However, they will be hoping to go one better than Stars, who lost in that final to Kaizer Chiefs.
Calamity at the back for Richards Bay 😲![CDATA[]]>😲
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) November 9, 2024
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Magesi, a club that was founded in 2011, made it into the semi-final by shocking the mighty Orlando Pirates in the round of 16 and beating TS Galaxy in the quarter-finals.
Their effectiveness on the counter-attack has been their biggest threat and they did it again on Saturday at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi.
After dominating the match with almost two-thirds of the possession, Mashigo cashed in after Richards Bay’s Lwandile Mabuya under hit a header back towards his goalkeeper.
The Magesi winger anticipated nicely and sprinted clear with the ball before firing past Richards Bay shot-stopper Ian Otieno.
However, Magesi’s true hero was goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze, who made a few astonishing saves throughout the match to keep Richards Bay from finding the back of the net.
Chipezeze deservedly got the Man-of-the-Match award, the second time he has received the R100 000 prize in their cup run.
@JohnGoliath82