This historic win for the Northern Cape side looked nowhere in sight on Monday when the Postmasburg based side suffered a morale-busting 2-1 defeat in their first game.
POSTMASBURG’S Hungry Lions FC have won promotion to the National First Division (NFD) also known as the GladAfrica League after their 5-3 penalties win over Mangaung United at the ABC Motsepe League national play-offs which took place in Nelspruit (Mbombela) this week.
This historic win for the Northern Cape side looked nowhere in sight on Monday when the Postmasburg based side suffered a morale-busting 2-1 defeat in their first game against hosts Sivutsa FC.
On Wednesday morning, however, going into their second match, Hungry Lions capitalised on the 11am start and took the lead in their semi-final against Bloemfontein’s Mangaung United.
The Free State side eventually bounced back with an equaliser and both teams went to score one more goal to end the game at 2-all which brought on the penalty shoot-out for a decision.
During the penalty shoot-out Hungry Lions did better at putting the ball into the net and came out tops scoring five goals to three for Mangaung, closing a very long chapter – dating back to 1973 – for the now Northern Cape when it last had a professional football side on the national stage.
The win means Hungry Lions will now play in the final of the play-offs on Saturday at the Mbombela Stadium at 3pm.
The final match will determine the overall winner of the ABC Motsepe League, but whatever that result, Hungry Lions’ entry into the final guaranteed them a place in the National First Division, and they will represent the Northern Cape after an almost four decade absence.
