A historic moment for rookies Magesi FC saw them narrowly beat 10-man Richards Bay 1-0 at King Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday afternoon to reach the Carling Knockout Cup final.
The match didn’t really light up until the 15th minute when Yanela Mbuthuma miscued his shot with just Elvis Chipezeze to beat.
Tlakusani Mthethwa tried his luck from just outside the box in the 23rd minute but Chipezeze was equally up to the task.
In the 25th minute, Mbuthuma was denied after a curler to the far post by Chipezeze.
The deadlock was broken in the 27th minute through Tshepo Mashigo who beat the Bay defence to slot past Otieno and make it 1-0 to Magesi.
In the second period, Mbuthuma tested Chipezeze with a volley from the tightest of angles but the Zimbabwean shotstopper came out tops once again in the 59th minute.
The Natal Rich Boyz came very close to levelling matters in the 67th minute through Keegan Allan’s header but Chipezeze’s outstretched left hand prevented the goal.
Dikwena Tsa Meetse nearly wrapped up the match in the 77th minute through Wonderboy Makhubu but Otieno dived low to his right to keep his side in the match.
Things went from bad to worse for the home side when Mthethwa was given his marchers orders in the 83rd minute for his second bookable offence.
Clinton Larsen’s charges held on firm to reach their first-ever topflight cup final after eliminating Orlando Pirates, TS Galaxy and now the Natal Rich Boys.