CAFWCL COSAFA Qualifiers: Sundowns dance past Beauties, storm semis

Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies danced past Namibia’s Beauties FC 7-0 in South Africa on Tuesday to confirm their semifinal berth at the COSAFA regional qualifying tournament for the CAF Women’s Champions League (CAFWCL).

Godfrey Sapula’s side cruised to the last-four with a perfect record, scoring 11 goals in three games and not conceding at AW Muller Stadium in Johannesburg where all the games are taking place.

Bambanani Mbane opened the floodgates for Sundowns with a third-minute goal followed by Lebohang  Ramalepe’s 23^rd minute strike before the former claimed her double seven minutes to the break to lead 3-0 at half time.

After the restart, Bambanani Mbane made it 4-0 then Karabo Makhurubetshi scored the fifth. Refilwe Tholakele and Sandra Mugwara scored the sixth and seventh goals respectively.

Earlier, ZESCO kept their semifinal hopes as the overall best runners up alive after overcoming Ntopwa Ladies 5-3 in an eight-goal thriller at the same venue.

Avell Chitundu opened the scoring barely seven minutes into the game. The opener paved the way for another goal scored by Eneless Phiri as the champions from Zambia finished the first-half with a 2-0 lead.

When play resumed in the second half, ZESCO continued from where they had left off, needing two minutes to extend their lead through Charity Mubanga.

Some minutes later, Milla Milambo made it 4-0 for ZESCO in the 64^th minute before Phiri completed her double of the afternoon 11 minutes later.

Ntopwa had not scored going into Tuesday’s match and the Blantyre girls made sure that they hit the back of the net through Rose Akufandika, Kondawo Banda and Jesse Yosefe who scored in the last 10 minutes of the match. ZESCO finished the group on six points from three games.

Group A Final Table

1. Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies- 9 points
2. ZESCO Ndola Girls- 6 points
3. Beauties FC- 3 points
4. Ntopwa FC- 0 points