Harambee Stars Defender Suffers Relegation in South Africa After Bizarre Own Goals

Harambee Stars defender Brian Mandela suffered the heartbreak of seeing his club get relegated on the final day of the season.

Mandela, who plays for South African side Orbit College, was not involved in the season finale as his club lost 2-0 to Orlando Pirates, which condemned them to the second tier known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship.

A lot was at stake in the match as Pirates needed a win to secure a first Premier Soccer League title since 2012 while Orbit College required victory to be safe or a draw to secure a promotion-relegation playoff spot.

With 24 points heading into the final match, Orbit College were in 15th position, the playoff spot, with Magesi FC bottom with 21 points but with a superior goal difference.

However, with Orbit College losing and Magesi securing a 1-0 win over Ian Otieno’s Richards Bay, it was Mandela’s team that went down, returning straight to second tier, having earned promotion last season.

The game was decided in a bizarre fashion. Orbit College had held firm in the first half and when it looked like both teams would head to halftime goalless, their goalkeeper Sabelo Nkomo punched the ball into his own net as he attempted to clear it from a corner.

The second goal arrived just three minutes after the break and it was another own goal. Pirates were on the attack and when the ball was launched forward Ndumiso Ngiba hit it in his own net.

There was no coming back from this against a Pirates team that had waited for 14 years to secure the title, ending Mamelodi Sundowns’ reign as champions.

Mandela joined the club as a free agent in the midseason transfer window, having left Stellenbosch FC at the end of last season, and has played four matches, starting three, but has fallen down the pecking order.

Saturday’s game was the eighth in a row in which Mandela did not play and it looks like that is the end for him at the club following reports that he is among players set to be released.