The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s disappointing season took a positive turn as they defeated record champions UP-Tuks in an impressive victory inspired by some wonderful individual performances for the Impi team. Varsity Football caught up with the player that impressed the most in the victory, Simiso Xaba, who praised his team and spoke about the UKZN’s motivation and the future of the side. 

For UKZN, the same tune has been sung several times this campaign, praising their wonderful performances but, somehow, not turning them into positive results. This has made UKZN a team that is ‘ever so close but never enough.’ 

Despite this, however, one thing can be said about Delron Buckley’s side – they do not go down without a fight.  

The men from the coast proved this in their last game, after they pulled a shocker against record champions Tuks, putting a serious dent in the Pretoria-based side’s top four hopes at their home ground. 

One of the top performers on the day was defender Simiso Xaba who almost individually guided the KZN outfit to victory after he scored a superbly worked goal when he came from the middle of the park, dribbled passed at least four UP-Tuks defenders to put the ball inside the roof of the net. Not only that, but the young defender also made some crucial challenges in defence to ensure that UKZN silenced the home fans as they crossed the line with maximum points secured.  

Varsity Football caught up with the young defender after he claimed his first Man of the Match award of his debut season. 

Varsity Football: The highest position UKZN have ever finished in their previous Varsity Football campaigns is seventh. What’s your take on another challenging season and what do you think is the cause for this lack of positive results in Varsity Football for UKZN? 

Xaba: Yes indeed, it has been a challenging season for us as a team but I will not dwell much on the negatives as there have been more positives in the way the team has been playing since the beginning. We had a scrappy season but we always had our heads up and were always ready to take up each challenge, which is a good thing as far as the future of the team is concerned. We still have a lot to look forward to, as we have a young and ambitious squad of which the majority were competing in this tournament for the first time, including myself. But I think our coaches did a great job in handling the team guiding us to these great performances we gave. 

Varsity Football: In the last game, many were impressed by your performance and the overall performance of the whole team, as you pulled a massive win against record champions UP-Tuks. What motivated that performance? 

Xaba: It’s the mood in our camp and the positive mindset that the guys have, the hunger for that first win of the season which was long overdue and I think coming into the game knowing that we have nothing to lose also had an impact as we were more relaxed on the ball, especially in the first half. That’s the energy we would also like to take into our next game.  

Varsity Football: Despite the results, there have been some amazing performances by your teammates this season. For example, Njabulo Mkhize, Banele Ntuli, Mongezi Ngcwangu, and Manqoba Mkhonza, to name a few. What is your message to your teammates going into the last round of 2022? 

Xaba: I enjoyed playing amongst those boys. We always had that spirit of brotherhood from the start and it has carried us throughout the tournament. We need to keep our heads up and in as much as this is our final game of the season, we have USSA games coming up in December. Hence I say we need to keep working together as we have been in the past few months and work on covering all the loopholes that we discovered in our games, which will help us grow as a team. 

Varsity Football: Lastly, you’re facing UJ in the last match this week. What can UJ expect from UKZN? 

Xaba: UJ is a good side, they have done well as the defending champions but playing against us won’t be a walk in the park. 

Varsity Football: Thanks man, all the best for the next game. 

If Buckleys’ side can put up a similar performance as in their last game, their meet-up against defending champions UJ will surely be an entertaining clash. The match will kick off at 18:30 at the UJ Stadium.  

You can get information on how to get tickets here.     

By Mpendulo Letsoalo.