There were no Monday blues for the Amajita national U20 men’s team as they beat England in the second match of the Tri-nations tournament in Leek, England.
Goals from Lyle Foster and Tashreeq Matthews saw the Burger King-sponsored Amajita side beat the hosts 2-1 in a most entertaining match in a tournament that also included Brazil.
Helman Mkhalele, interim head coach of the Amajita side, made five changes to the team that lost 4-0 to the South Americans at Burton-upon-Trent last week.
The move paid dividends as the visitors were able to match their opponents from the word go, even though the home side looked more threatening going forward.
Early in the first half, Leo Thethani put in a good cross, but striker Foster could not connect well and the header went wide.
Shortly after that Emile Smith Rowe should have put England in front after he beat the offside trap, but shot wide with only the keeper to beat.
South Africa took the lead when Foster beat the defence and calmly slotted home into the bottom corner of the net past Joseph Bursik in the England goal in the 13th minute.
Just before half-time, a defensive error almost let England back into the match when the Amajita players missed an easy clearance, but the home side failed to capitalise, and instead shot wide.
The hosts made several substitutions at the beginning of the second stanza to try and take the game to South Africa.
This nearly worked as they piled on the pressure on Amajita, who were by now playing mainly in their own half – England attacking from all angles, but Mkhalele’s charges stood firm.
Sensing danger, the stand-in head coach sent on Dylan Stoffels in place of Bafana Tshawe.
In the 60th minute, a well-taken free kick by England was well saved by Glen Baadjies in the South African goal. He was called on again to save Amajita from a fierce shot by captain Danny Loader in a one-on-one situation.
At this time England was poking holes in the South African defence, who fought with everything they had to keep a clean sheet.
Amajita then released some of the pressure when Forster, who was proving to be a thorn in the England defence, stole a ball just after the halfway line, sprinted goalwards and laid it off for Matthews who made no mistake and gave South Africa a 2-0 lead.
Mkhalele introduced fresh legs and brought on Duncan Adonis and Brooklyn Poggenpoel for Luke le Roux and Keegan Allan respectively.
England, who drew 0-0 against Brazil on Friday, were now throwing everything at Amajita, and were duly rewarded in referee’s optional time when second half substitute, Phil Foden found the back of the net to give his side some hope of rescuing the match.
But it was too little too late as the final whistle sounded soon afterwards – with South Africa claiming a 2-1 victory.
Here’s how they lined up:
South Africa: Glen Baadjies (GK), Keegan Allen (Brooklyn Poggenpoel), Malebogo Modise (C), Dean Solomons, Leseane Mokgopedi, Siphesihle Mkhize, Luke le Roux (Duncan Adonis), Leo Thethani (Sibusiso Shabane), Tashreeq Matthews, Bafana Tshawe (Dylan Stoffels), Lyle Foster
Subs: Phillip Lesoma (GK), Lethabo Mazibuko, Tyrique Bartlett, Duncan Adonis, Brooklyn Poggenpoel, Zwelihle Mthiyane, Sibusiso Shabane, Ngcebo Nala, Dylan Stoffels
Stand-in head coach: Helman Mkhalele
England: Joseph Burski (GK), Kane Wilson, Jake Vokins, Oliver Skipp, Joel Latibeaudiere, Lewis Gibson, Emile Smith Rowe, Matt O’Riley, Danny Loader (C), Nya Kirby, Aidan Barlow
Subs: Timothy, Eyoma, William Crellin, George McEachran, Jonathan Panzo, March Guehi, Phil Foden, Tashan Oakley-Boothe, Angel Gomes
Head coach: Steven Cooper