Thursday, April 30, 2015

Mpumalanga Secondary School hopes to compete at provincial level in the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup


With two games to go in the cluster level playoffs in the Emalahleni 2 Cluster in Mpumalanga, Mehlwane Secondary School are on track to end on top of their section and go through to the next level of the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup competition.

Mdu Skosana, the team’s coach and manager, explains that they have not had much success in tournament before, always eliminated in the early phases, but this year they have won three and drawn one of their games so far, which puts them at the top of the table, with two games to go.

“It’s been a psychological thing with the players, they have let themselves believe that if the previous team didn’t make it further they also can’t,” he said. “But, at the moment we are leading the log standings by 10 points and we are left with only 2 games to finish our cluster games and proceed through to the sub regional games. Things are looking good for us, but we don’t want to count our chickens before they hatch. We just have to remain strong and continue our game plan for the upcoming matches.”

Skosana said the players at the school are passionate about soccer and they understand that playing soccer is not always about winning, but they would still like to experience playing in the provincial and national finals of the tournament and be exposed to schools from other districts.

The cluster games have been smooth sailing for them, he explained and they even drew with Zacheus Malaza SS, who participated in the provincial finals last year. “We viewed them as our biggest competition, but we realised that they are no more competitive or stronger than our side,” he said.

Skosana said the main challenge they face is not having a proper soccer field to train on. “The school does have a pitch, but it’s not in a good condition, which makes it hard for us to train as much as we would like to.  We currently train at our local stadium when it’s available,” he said.

The team has a number of very talented players who Skosana regards as key players. “But I have to single out the captain, Aubrey Mahlangu. He is a versatile player who can play any position, but lately he has been the striker for the team and is currently our leading goal-scorer. He is one of those players that need to be exposed to academies.  It is a pity that we are in the outskirts Emalahleni.”

The teams participating in the cluster playoffs are:

Zacheus Malaza Secondary School, Empucukweni Secondary School,  Leonard Nthuntshe Secondary School, D.M Matsaosele Secondary School,  Mehlwane Secondary School, Mabdande Secondary School and Phillip Ndimande Secondary School 


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