We have seen the good, bad and ugly side of Varsity Football in the past six weeks. We are heading into the last round of this popular competition’s league stage. While some teams are gearing up for the knockout stages, others will bid farewell to this year’s tournament. It was refreshing to have new-kids-on-the-block UKZN and Limpopo join us. They had their fun and the time for them to pack their bags has finally come. Here are five things that we learned from the past round of fixtures.
The wheels are coming off for NWU
The more things change the more they stay the same. That is an old saying and in this case it fits perfectly with NWU football. They started the season like a house on fire beating every team in front of them in the first three matches. But they suffered a dramatic collapse losing three games in a row. After all the hard work and praise they received when they were at the top of the table, they might exit the tournament this week. They promised a lot but delivered so little. The wheels are coming off at the wrong time. NWU’s 2-0 defeat at Tuks was the straw that broke the camel’s back. They promised to win the tournament every year only to get worse. How low can they go after this loss of form?
UP-Tuks are peaking at the right time
Slow starters… blah, blah, blah, but when it matters the most they know how to step up and be counted. The defending champions are on the way to the semi-finals after they rallied back to win a couple of matches. They usually say the tournament starts in the knockout stages and Tuks are now ready to show the other teams what they are made of. They have the destiny of finishing in the top four brackets in their own hands going into the final game of the league round robin stages. Tuks drew from their wealth of experience in the competition to get themselves back into contention and for that we applaud them. If they pull through they might be hard to stop.
Wits book themselves a semi-final spot
If there was any doubt that Wits will qualify for the knockout stages, those doubts were to put aside as they stormed their way into the semi-final after an impressive 2-0 victory over Limpopo at Milpark last week. There is something special about this Wits team and they are on a roll. They surprised even themselves with such a great showing of determination. Well done to Wits for making it into the last four.
UKZN are tired of being a charity case
UKZN have often been targeted for easy points in this year’s competition. But they are now tired of being tossed aside like a coin. They collected two points in their past two games in a thrilling 3-3 draw against UWC and in an entertaining 2-2 against tournament favourites TUT. But they left it too late as their fans are left wondering where their impressive display came from. They didn’t even put up a fight in their previous matches but as their participation in the competition is coming to an end, they seem to be getting into gear. We are impressed with their display and hope that they will exit the tournament with a win under their belt.
UJ are still unbeaten
UJ were made to work for their 1-1 draw against UWC in their previous game. UWC were expected to collect the three points against the top of the table UJ, but the team from Soweto was not prepared to lose. They preserved their unbeaten run in six matches and proudly looking down over the other teams heading into the last round of matches. UJ mean business in this year’s tournament. Their stalemate in Cape Town is probably their toughest match and they came back unscathed.
By Charles Baloyi – Daily Sun and Sunday Sun Sports Writer
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