ReUnited came out on top in a closely fought first derby for the club. Although 3U suffered defeat they can hold their heads high following a game that could have taken a different path.
The first half was tight with 3U well organised as ReU struggled to make any impact on their defence. Pablo was cutting out and winning all the balls in the air and ground and ReU were lacking imagination in finding a way through.
The best chance of the half and the only clear one for either team, fell to Oraz when he superbly broke ReU’s offside trap and then tried to chip Cody who clawed the ball away onto a post.
ReU went into half-time frustrated, knowing they needed a win to keep up with the league leaders.
The second half was a different story as ReU started to put 3U’s defence under pressure. Tobi won and missed a penalty and Moritz missed a great chance (after an amazing run by Essien) before Tobi spun and shot in the penalty area and the ball went just over.
For ReU it seemed similar to the Lions game and they would be made to pay for missing several chances, until Mandela won a tackle high up and charged into the box to score the winner.
ReU saw the match out quite comfortably from then and were relieved to get three vital points.