Team Jessa came from a goal down to beat Team Asaria 4-2 in a thrilling encounter in the first leg of the playoff semi-final. Team Jessa are now one step closer to making the ZFC playoff final.

Team Somji held league champions Team Sardar to a draw in their first leg match. The 1-1 score line will give Team Somji much confidence going in to the second leg next week with everything to play for.

Team Jessa started the game looking for an early goal and against the run of play an indirect free kick from Hassanain Mamdani which took a deflection off Aarif "Phonzy" Fazal and ended up in the back of the net looked to have given Team Asaria the lead, however the referee did not see the deflection and the goal was disallowed.

A few minutes later, Taha Jaffer picked up the ball in the middle and shimmied past a couple of players before unleashing a low drive which nestled in to the bottom corner.

Team Jessa levelled through a Mehboob Ajwani free kick which took a deflection and went in. Early in the second half Team Jessa were piling on the pressure and a well hit shot from Riyaz Jessa found it’s way in to the bottom corner giving Team Jessa a 2-1 lead.

As Team Asaria pushed for an equaliser, Team Jessa hit them on the counter attack and with a three on two situation, after some nice passes the ball was finally cut back to an unmarked Aqil Najafi who blasted the ball in from the edge of the area.

Murtaza Kanji gave Team Asaria some hope when he scored from a few yards out after the ball had come back off the boards making it 3-2.

With the clock ticking down and Team Asaria looking for that elusive equaliser, a school boy error from Hassanain Mamdani gifted Calbe-Ali Najarali with the ball who rifled the ball past the keeper making it 4-2.

Team Jessa will fancy their chances of making it to the final after this result. Some bookies have already started paying out on Team Jessa making it to the final.

Team Somji put in a great performance to hold Team Sardar to a 1-1 draw. The first half was a tight affair with both teams feeling each other out.

Team Sardar had the best efforts in the first half with shots from Salman Ganawi, Abbas Hasham and Hassan Syed. The Team Somji defence held firm and a double save from Hassanain Somji and one cleared off the line kept the score goalless.

Early in the second half, Salman Ganawi picked up the ball on the right wing and hit a thunderous drive into the top corner, the ball was in the back of the net before the keeper could react.

To their credit, Team Somji kept on going and a late mistake from the Team Sardar defence gifted the ball to Mohammed “Speedy” Hasham on the edge of the area. Speedy capitalised on the error and drilled the ball home making it 1-1.

The second leg of this tie will be an interesting one and both teams will quietly feel confident about booking their place in the playoff final on 6th May.