There are two fairytales on the cards when UJ host UP-Tuks in the Varsity Football final in Soweto on Monday.
For the home side it is the chance to go unbeaten through their debut season in the competition, whilst defending champions UP-Tuks have the chance to retain their title.
The Pretoria side took the inaugural Varsity Football title last year, playing both of their play-off matches at home, but their path to the final has been somewhat different this year.
Coach Evangelos Vellios’ team lost two games in the round robin phase of the tournament, and had to travel to Mafikeng for their semifinal against NWU last week.
They showed their champion quality by extending their unbeaten record over NWU to four games, and held their nerve in the penalty shoot-out after the game had finished goalless after 90 minutes.
They must now produce another upset on the road against a highly confident UJ outfit, so if they do go on to retain their title they will deserve all the accolades that come their way.
For UJ it has been a dream opening season under the mentorship over former Bafana Bafana defender Bradley Carnell.
The Johannesburg side have been highly disciplined, giving little away as they finished on top of the standings to ensure home advantage in the play-offs.
Crucially, UJ inflicted a serious blow on their Gauteng rivals when they handed UP-Tuks a 4-0 defeat in Pretoria earlier in the season, so they will certainly hold the psychological adge in front of their home fans.
Carnell has never lost to UP-Tuks in four games since he started coaching UJ, although there is not much chance of his team taking anything for granted.
It was probably something of a blessing for UJ that they were pushed all the way by Kovsies in their semifinals, with the drama of a penalty-shoot-out deciding the outcome in that clash as well.
UP-Tuks are known for their direct style which relies on a physical threat up front from long balls and set-pieces and most of their goals coming from counter-attacks.
UJ prefer to hold the ball and dominate possession, whilst their defensive discipline is outstanding with the only goals they have conceded from open play this season coming last week in the semifinal.
This all adds up to a mouth-watering clash between two top sides who will be determined to write their own fairytale, although there can only be a happy ending for one team.
Prediction: UP-Tuks have never lost a Varsity Football knock-out game and will be tough customers, but we expect UJ to do the business in front of their fans and win by one goal.
Teams:
UJ Squad: Trent Harrison, Mduduzi Khumalo, Wisdom Mathibula, Ruwell Jagger, Matthew Edwards, Stephen Sibanyoni, Lerato Tleane, Lumkile Dava, Tebogo Mandyu, Kaylan More, Jarred Abrahams, Grant Bruchhausen (captain), Tshepo Tolo, Ruben De Freitas, Sandro Claro, Omphile Majwafi, Pontsho Nyathi, Karl Clements.
UP-Tuks Squad: 32 Lebo Ngubeni, 4 Lawrence Ntswane, 8 Nicholas Killas, 13 Lindsay Stowman, 20 Thabo Ndlovu, 10 Jeremiah Nkwana, 11 Richard Moremi, 5 Simbongile Njokwe, 15 Jarryd Van Den Berg, 9 Mbongeni Masilela, 18 Lucky Mathosi, 23 Vuse-Umuze Khoza, 14 Tebogo Galane, 1 Dylan Paterson, 6 Khumbulani Siluma, 12 Phuthego Mabitsela, 7 Luke Steyl, 22 Dean Wilkinson, 2 Botshelo Mfulwane, 3 Robin Swartz.
Date: Monday, September 15
Venue: UJ Soweto campus sports complex
Kick-off: 19.00 (Live on Supersport)
