Despite finishing their Varsity Football campaign at the bottom of the log with two points, UCT believe they have learnt a lot from the experience.
UCT’s last game against UWC ended in a 1-1 draw. It was a game both Cape teams were eager to win in order to mark Cape territory, but neither were unable to do so as it ended in a deadlock.
UCT took the lead in the second half when a corner by Lwazi Maziya was converted by defender Velaphi Vilakazi, but UWC bounced back and scored almost immediately with a free-kick by Tapelo Sixishe.
UCT’s Varsity Football campaign has been filled with chances the team couldn’t convert – something that has characterised their tournament.
UCT defender and Monday’s goal scorer Velaphi Vilakazi said that UCT definitely missed chances throughout the tournament but that the team has learnt from the tournament.
He said he hopes the team’s efforts this year will aid in changing perceptions of UCT being a rugby focused university.
“Now the university’s students will know that we can play good football and that we fight hard on the field. We’re building for the future,” he said.
Coming into the tournament UCT knew that it would be challenging coming up against the best of the best footballing universities. Captain Bisi Mtshali admitted that the tournament was an uphill battle from the start.
“It required a massive change in mindset from each player on the team as this was a level of football and professionalism we’d never experienced before,” he explained.
Although the team didn’t perform as they would’ve liked, there has definitely been an improvement. The team’s USSA results illustrate this.
Mtshali added: “We think we showed spectators our never-say-die attitude. Our last two results showed this. We had to bounce back from a hiding at Tuks and we did so with better performances.”
When asked to sum up the tournament in one word Mtshali said: “That would be hard as we’ve experienced so much, but if I had to choose I’d say stressful.”
UCT are now focusing on the remaining USSA fixtures which should lead the team to the USSA National Club Championships in Pretoria at the end of the year.
By Julia Cassar
