Underdogs Ghan Kilburn City Soccer Club beats Elizabeth Downs in Sunday amateur league top tier final
An amateur soccer club – whose players come from war-torn countries – has shaken off its underdog tag to take home the premiership in its debut top-flight campaign.
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They entered the final as underdogs.
But in its first top tier Sunday division one amateur soccer final Ghan Kilburn City proved just how little that tag could mean.
The Blair Athol-based club thumped amateur soccer powerhouse Elizabeth Downs 5-0 in the Sunday division one President’s Cup final last weekend.
The victory represented a rapid rise for the club, which began in the fifth-tier Sunday competition in 2002 after being established by members of Adelaide’s Afghan community.
Although the President’s Cup was a condensed competition which ran in place of the traditional format due to COVID-19 restrictions, coach Desmond Tucker said the triumph meant so much.
“I am very proud of the boys,” Tucker said.
“We go through hardships, we’ve all come from war-torn countries so in times like this we are stronger again and persevere.
“We went into the game very confident because we have a very good side.
“It is always good to be underdogs so the bar was low for us but we passed with flying colours.”
Tucker said the club had developed a strong culture with players from various backgrounds and wanted to help local youths become good, strong members of the community.
In the final against Elizabeth Downs, Headman Dadzie scored one goal, while Brima Kamara and Masoud Teymouri netted two each.
Captain Javeed Zamini said the side began the revamped season slow but had faith it could claim the title.
“We work really hard as a team to improve every single day,” Zamini said.
“Soccer is all about working hard, being humble and hungry so we achieved what we did.
“It’s my first year as captain, so I feel really grateful to be part of this club and this community.”
President Rahim Zaidi said the club had come a long way and was keen to continue to become a dominant force within the amateur soccer community.
“It was very exciting watching,” Zaidi said.
“Now we’ve got a good game and everyone will start talking about us and coming to play with us.
“This is a good thing for us.”
Becoming Sunday division one amateur league champions comes two years after the club knocked a five-time winner out of the FFA Cup SA.
Ghan Kilburn is, however, not done yet with a battle against Saturday amateur division one winners USC Lions for the Champions Cup coming up this Sunday.