Earlier in the competition Banyana beat Malawi 2-1 during the group games.

A disappointed Bayana coach, Desiree Ellis, bemoaned her teams’ efforts in the defence and for the lack of using the opportunities on offer.

“Unfortunately, our biggest part of the game is not conceding but defensively we were poor today.

“We got back into the game and we conceded with a couple of defensive errors at the back. We had opportunities to clear the ball and we did not and we got punished for that.

“We did not have a great first half and we made a couple of tactical changes and we were better second half but the way we conceded was unlike us.

“Normally we talk about managing the game and unfortunately we did not manage the game well and today Malawi was clinical in front of goal.

“We had a lot of opportunities to score and I always say, if we don’t concede, we will create and we will win but unfortunately today we conceded more than what we scored and I am disappointed with the result but we have to go back and look at ourselves and what we could have done better.”

The team from the Great Lakes region will now face their neighbours, Tanzania, in the final on Saturday.

Tanzania beat Zambia 3-2 on penalties after their semi-final finished 1-1 after regulation time.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport