The 2016 Varsity Football league has reached the knockout stages. It is the first semi-final which will decide who goes through to the final when CUT take on UJ.
Varsity Football has reached the knockout stages, and at this point of the competition the ‘favourites’ and ‘underdog’ tags go out the window. The University of Johannesburg left it till the final round of fixtures to book their place in the semis, and history seems to favour them as they were in a similar position before, back in 2014.
“We know what we need to do, the game will be decided by how hungry we are and how badly we want this win. We have made it this far and we are most certainly going out for the kill,” said UJ coach Mandla Zwane.
Vice-captain and ever-present defender Mathew Edwards said, “UJ will need to dig deep, keep playing the football that got us this far and we can go all the way. Football is a beautiful game, so we know, and they (CUT) know that nothing will be taken for granted.”
Heading into the semi-finals the teams were only separated by one point, and by looking at the stats you can see that there is not much between the two sides. The semi-final match between CUT and UJ will be played on Thursday the 8th of September 2016. The game will be played at the CUT Stadium in Bloemfontein, with kick-off scheduled for 15:30. The matched will be televised on SuperSport 10.
Interesting facts leading into the semis:
Form
CUT: WDDWWLD
UJ: WDLDLWW
Goals Scored
CUT: 9
UJ: 13
Goals Conceded
CUT: 9
UJ: 9
League ranking
CUT: 2nd
UJ: 3rd
UJ starting XI to face CUT: Mpumelelo Sambo, Ruwell Jagger© , Matthew Edwards, Funnynight Sisimogang, Dane Fortuin, Hayden Slava, Samuel Warder, Tebogo Mandyu, Katlego Ntsabeleng, Wade Rowe, Sbongeleni Gamede
Subs: Damaine Van Der Walt, Pogise Mabote, Emmanuel Ndu, Tshepo Tolo, Jared Abrahams, Melusi Mahlaba, Given Msimango
By Nkosinathi Shazi
