After the final round of round-robin fixtures, the semi-finals are now confirmed. Thursday’s games were once again fiercely contested and the following four players caught the eyes of the Varsity Football scouts.
Omphile Shuping (NWU)
Omphile ‘The General’ Shuping was NWU’s standout player against VUT, playing in his natural position instead of left-back as in the prior 2022 Varsity games.
He was lively and constantly on the go. He popped up all over the place and showed some great flashes of ability and creativity.
He scored the game’s first goal in the 21st minute and the final goal in the 83rd, while also setting up the second with a superb back heel.
Without a doubt, he won the game for the NWU, hence he was also chosen as Man of the Match in one of the best individual displays the scouts have seen all season.
Daniel Shapiro (Wits)
Wits have struggled with clean sheets this season all campaign but goalkeeper Shapiro had an absolute blinder of a game in between the sticks against UP-Tuks on Thursday.
His incredible saves helped Wits to claim their first win of the tournament this campaign, while also denying Tuks a spot in the top four.
Kutloano Manamela (TUT)
TUT collected the much-needed win to secure not just a top-four spot but also a home semi-final. Defender Kutloano Manamela stood out for the scouts after troubling the UFS defence and his all-important goal.
In addition, the defender also did well to stop the UFS attacks, conceding six or seven fouls without receiving a card.
Thulani Zandamela (UJ)
Thulani Zandamela was once again one of the driving forces as UJ came from a goal down to collect three points against UKZN.
He continued to win people’s hearts after a wonderful performance making sure that his side goes to the semi-finals and sitting at the top of the log by scoring his side’s winner.
Zandamela’s fine performance also saw him climb to the joint top of the 2022 Varsity Football goal scoring charts.
