South Africa’s U17 side Amajimbos booked their place in the U17 COSAFA Boys Youth Championships semi-finals following a narrow 3-2 victory over Mauritius at AW Muller Stadium in Auckland Park on Monday afternoon.
The hosts did not take long to open the scoring as stand-in captain Sive Pama headed in at the far post to give SA a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute.
Three minutes later, Neo Bohloko connected well with Omphemetse Sekgoto to slot past the opposition goalkeeper and make it 2-0.
Sekgoto then got his goal in the 12th minute, making it 3-0 by also tapping in from close range as the hosts took the huge advantage into the break.
In the second period, Amajimbos took their feet off the paddle which allowed the Islanders to pull one back through Crismc Rabaye in the 53rd minute.
Mauritius was awarded a penalty in the 87th minute which Ravani slotted home to set up a tense last few minutes, but Amajimbos thwarted off that threat to clinch the victory.
The win saw Vela Khumalo’s charges finish top of Group C after dominant two wins in their last two matches hammering neighbours Botswana 5-0 before following that up with a 3-0 victory over Comoros.
They will take on Zambia in the semi-final on Wednesday.
