On Sunday Bloemfontein Celtic beat Polokwane City 4-3 on penalties at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane to secure their spot in the final of the Telkom Knockout Cup.

It was in this very same competition which the team won in 2012 under the guidance of Clinton Larsen. Since then the team had experienced a lean spell and actually failed to advance past the opening round of any of the cup competitions they had competed in.

After the regulation 90 minutes in Polokwane, neither side we able to break the deadlock and the game was forced into extra time.

The 20-year-old Bafana Bafana striker, Tshegofatso Mabasa, opened the scoring in the 103rd minute of the game to had Celtic the lead.

Rendani Ndou however cancelled out Mabasa’s strike in the 115th minute and level matters to force the semi-final into a penalty shootout.

Sloppy work by Polokwane from the penalty spot saw Celtic take the ascendancy in the shootout. However, the home side starting beating the Celtic goalkeeper, Patrick Tignyemb, to setup a thrilling conclusion to the match.

The final spot kick was left up to Mabasa to send Celtic through to their first final in five-years.

A nervous looking Mabasa made no mistake as the drilled the ball into the back of the net for the winner.

It was also the boot of Mabasa which found the winning goal during the quarter-final against Platinum Stars at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg.

Speaking to OFM Sport after the game, Mabasa, said that reaching the final was dream come true.

“It’s really a dream come true because for some of us it will be out first professional final.

“It’s something that we’ve always wanted and any football wants in his career, so we’re really ecstatic. We’ve happy and really proud of ourselves, we can’t describe how we’re feeling at the moment”.

Mabasa added that he is proud of being the man to send his team into the final.

“To the score the winning goal in the quarter-final and in the semi-final to send the team through to the final is something that I’m really proud of.

“We’ve really been working hard as of late and everything this seems to be falling in place. I’m proud of myself and I just have to keep up the hard work.

“Hopefully more goals will come and with that help the team win more trophies and compete.”

Celtic will face Wits in the final after Gavin Hunt’s Clever Boys beat Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 on Saturday at the Bidwest Stadium.

The final will take place on 2 December at the Princess Magogo Stadium in Kwa-Mashu, KwaZulu-Natal. Kick off will be at 18:00.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport