The 2018 edition of Varsity Football is back and what a way to start the new campaign, as two old enemies do battle on the opening day. UWC travel to Mafikeng in an encounter that surely will have fireworks as both sides never disappoint.
The two sides recently met at the USSA championships in Port Elizabeth and the side from Bellville lost to NWU in the semi-final. We caught up with assistant coach Stanton Smith who told us about how their preparations been for this season.
“We had a great time preparing for this year’s edition and we strive to do well in this cup and also we had the USSA tournament that we used to gauge how far we are with our preparation. We came third in those championships and we lost to NWU who are our opponents in the opening game.”
The side from Bellville still have to fight their ‘bad travellers’ tag again this season, it is well known that they do not do well when playing away from the Operation Room and that is something the technical team has identified and are working hard to improve.
“We have the core of the team with us, just two players who are missing because of eligibility and some have graduated, like our captain from last season Thulani Mkosi, and some to NFD teams. But we still have guys like Renaldo Leaner ,Phiwokuhle Mpalala and Jaydee Adams available. We have made Clinton Herwel our captain for this edition, he has been a marvel for us. We also brought in three youngsters from Ajax Cape Town: Tylo Miller, Leandro De Souza, Aiden Leak. Then we also have Simphiwe Mnqadu, who has also played in the NFD.”
UWC play their first two games away from home and hopefully, they will come back to the Operation Room with two positive results and those results will put them at an advantage going further in the tournament.
The game against NWU takes place at Mafikeng Stadium on the 26 of July at 16:00. TV coverage is live on SuperSport Select.
By Dumisani Koyana
