Justice Matloga, coach of the
Haggai Combined Private School’s under-12 soccer team has another title under
his belt – the Danone Nations Cup Limpopo provincial trophy.
The Thohoyandou school took the
title at the Limpopo provincial finals at Hoërskool Noorderland in Polokwane
last weekend. The final game was called off because of adverse weather, but
Haggai were declared the champions because they finished on top of the log in
the round-robin phase.
Matloga was the coach at Benny’s
Sport Academy and Development when the school first opened, and while he was
there, that school won many trophies.
Winning the Danone Nations Cup
with his new school, which he joined in 2015, is very special because, he
points out, that this was the first time that these players had played in a
tournament of this size and he was concerned about how they would handle the
pressure.
“The team started off really slow
and I thought they wouldn’t manage against other schools that had many years of
experience in the Danone Nations Cup,” he said. “But a lot of people from the
school came to support us on the day and it made the players more comfortable
knowing that they had a great support system.”
Matloga singled out Hlonipho
Nkosi as the player who made the greatest contribution to the team. He is small
in stature, but has a great attitude, on and off the field, Matloga said. “He
scored 6 goals in the 4 matches that he played. He has a great way of
controlling the ball and executing scoring opportunities.”
Hlonipho hails from Thembisa and
was recruited by Matloga’s Greenway Academy.
There is plenty of work ahead of
the team before the Danone Nations Cup national finals in July. “We need to concentrate on the defence,”
Matloga said. “We made mistakes at the provincial finals that could cost us a
chance of winning the national cup.
“There is a lack of communication
between the players that needs to be sorted out.”
Second place finishers,
Kgwatlele, had arguable one of the best youngsters to come from this
competition in a while and were to have met Haggai in the final match, which
did not happen due to a downpour that happened just prior to the match which
caused the pitch to become waterlogged. “We have heard that this year has
seen many of the second place finishers beating the log leaders, but I was not
too worried. We beat them 2 – 1 in the league, but their team relied on
one player and we had a more balanced team. But it was not meant to be
and we did not meet them again. However, I will try and arrange a
friendly with them prior to the national finals. It would be a really
good practice for my boys.”
The Sundowns scouts had a field
day on Saturday with exceptional talent on display making it one of the most
exciting Danone Nations Cup provincial finals this year. “Every team on the day
had an exceptionally talented player,” said Ike Pula. “We have invited
quite a few from today to attend training sessions with Sundowns. From
there we will evaluate them and see how we can development further and from
there we will invite them to trials.”
Limpopo Provincial Finals
Results;
Game 1: Katang PS 0 vs Megoring
PS 1
Game 2: Kgwatlele PS 1 vs
Thapola-A-Nkona PS 0
Game 3: Haggai 2 vs Katang
PS 0
Game 4: Megoring PS 1 vs
Kgwatlele PS 4
Game 5: Thapola-A-Nkona PS 0 (2)
vs Haggai 0 (3)
Game 6: Katang PS 1(1) vs
Kgwatlele PS 1 (3)
Game 7: Megoring PS 0 (0) vs
Thapola-A Nkona PS 0 (2)
Game 8: Kgwatlele PS 1 vs Haggai
2
Game 9: Thapola-A-Nkona PS
1 vs Katang PS 0
Game 10: Haggi 3 vs Megoring 0
Final: Haggi vs Kgwatlele PS:
Match was cancelled due to bad weather.
Ends
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