Durban - Bafana Bafana beat Botswana 2-1 to claim the Plate section of the 2022 Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup at the Sugar Ray Xulu stadium on Sunday morning.
Antonio Van Wyk's persistence forced the opening goal of the match as a Botswana clearance ended up at the back of their own net.
The Stellenbosch FC man ran through on goal but had the ball stuck in his feet and couldn't fire a short but Teboho Kopelang's attempted clearance ricochet off the back of Van Wyk and gave Bafana the lead.
Selaelo Rasebotja, who has arguably been Bafana's best player in this competition grabbed a second in the latter stages of the second half.
The SuperSport United Academy graduate went on of his trademark runs into the box and was delightfully found by Jayden Adams before he slotted past the on-rushing goalkeeper and gave Bafana a two goal buffer.
Similar to their last match, Bafana allowed the opponents to pull one back in the dying minutes of the game, Thato Kebue's deflected shot bamboozling the goalkeeper made it 2-1 on the stroke of 90 minutes.
Bafana coach Helman Mkhalele opted for great rotation as he made eight changes to the side that beat Madagascar in the quarterfinal with only Keagan Johannes, Athenkosi Mcaba and Rowan Human retaining their places.
One of the most notable changes made by Bafana was the switch of formation as they deployed an unfamiliar 3-5-2 with Golden Arrows' Sbonelo Cele and Khulekani Shezi of Royal AM providing the width as wingbacks.
The Zebras quickly settled in possession, commanding the opening 15 minutes of the match with Mkhalele's boys seemingly struggling with adapting to the new formation.
AmaZulu's Olwethu Mzimela was handed his debut in the goals and he quickly justified his selection when he made an incredible point blank save in the 25th minute.
The defence of the hosts were at sixes and sevens and were caught napping by a looped cross onto the far post but Mzimela displayed great athleticism as he parried an effort over the bar from point blank range.
The Bafana technical team made a bold statement as they withdrew Northern Ireland based Katlego Mashigo and Cele for Rasebotja and Mamelodi Sundowns Siyanda Msani as they continued to struggle with gaining control of the game.
Botswana coach Mogomotsi Mpote's charges cut a tired figure in the second half, justifiably so after fielding an almost identical starting 11 for five games prior to this one.
The struggles of the visitors coincided with their frustrations and it boiled over in the 79th minute when Odirile Lekoba received his marching orders for a bad tackle on Shezi.
In the end a youthful and energetic Bafana proved too much for Botswana and claimed the victory along with the Plate.
@SmisoMsomi16