United's Cup runneth over

Scenes of SuperSport United players exploding in wild celebration after beating Wits University 1-0 in the Absa Cup final at Olympia Park on Saturday told a story of how they have progressed from no-hopers to Cup specialists of South African soccer.

Pitso Mosimane's men have now secured their second major domestic crown of the season and an additional R2,5-million for their troubles.

This was United's third consecutive final appearance this season; winning the Supa8 and losing the Coke Cup to Kaizer Chiefs.

As his players turned the Rustenburg-based venue into a temporary dancefloor, just before the medal presentation, Mosimane took time to reflect on a season that has had its ups and downs.

"We used to play attractive soccer but won nothing in the end. Soccer is about winning trophies and that's what we have achieved this season.

"Credit must go to everybody at the club because this was a collective effort and not a one man show," said a visibly excited Mosimane.

Speaking about the game that was wrapped up in the 29th minute through lanky striker Lungisani Ndlela, Mosimane said they felt the pressure in the last quarter after the dismissal of holding midfielder Edward Williams.

Williams was sent for an early shower in the 79th minute when he elbowed a Wits player in an off the ball incident.

This allowed Wits to launch a series of late attacks that were strongly influenced by substitute midfielders Sydney Nkalanga and Reagan Noble.

Enjoying a numerical advantage, Wits started to create chances but could not find the back of the net as a result of their poor finishing which has been the case all season, hence their relegation.

The most notable chance came at the death when Noble blasted the ball over the crossbar from a good position with only United goalkeeper Calvin Marlin to beat.

Ndlela's winner, his fifth of the tournament, was a simple tap in the box from Abram Raselemane's cross.

United must be highly commented for the Cup double having overcome a heavy fixture backlog in which they played 54 games in all competitions.

This included Caf Champions League and Confederation Cup matches.

Domestically, Mosimane guided his relatively youthful side to the final of the Supa8 playing three matches, the Coke Cup where they went through all four games, the Absa Cup where they featured in five games and in the league where they played 30 games to finish fourth on the table.

One of Mosimane's star performers this season defender Siboniso Gaxa, who was recently selected for Bafana Bafana's squad for next weekend's Caf/World Cup qualifier against Cape Verde in Praia, said winning the Cup was a perfect way to end the season.

"As you can see everybody is happy and we are proud of our achievements," the youngster said pointing at his jubilant team-mates.