The Gauteng provincial championship playoffs in the under-12
Danone Nations Cup took place at the WJ Clements Stadium in Reiger Park on
Saturday and from the word go there were only two teams in the tournament.
Bree
Primary School and Sonqoba Primary School, two of the most successful teams in
Gauteng down the years, dominated their groups and met in the final.
Sonqoba
had made the final game of the Gauteng provincial finals in the two previous
years, winning the 2013 final to represent the province in the National Finals.
Bree were the last South African winners of the Danone Nations Cup World Finals
in 2009. Sonqoba finished the group stages unbeaten scoring 8 goals in their 3
games, while Bree Primary School started well by beating Christian Progressive
Academy 2-0 but then got overconfident and drew with one of the weaker schools
in the competition, Tsumbedzo Primary School 1-1, and went down on penalties.
Bree Primary School did just enough to win their group ahead of Christian
Progressive Academy and advance to the final.
The
final game was a tight contest and Bree had the best chances in the first half
but kicked a ball just wide in open play then watched a free kick drift past
the left hand corner of the goal.
The
second half was a game of chess that saw both teams battle to get anywhere near
the goal until the stroke of full time when Bree was awarded a penalty. The
penalty kick was a decent one but thanks to a fantastic save by the Sonqoba
goalkeeper they could not score.
So,
it was 0-0 at the end and Bree won the penalty shootout 2-0 to advance to the
national finals which will be at the same venue on the 27th of June.
Mr
Devanand Kallicharan, headmaster of Bree Primary School and manager of the
team, said he was delighted with the win, but also concerned, “We have a good
team and the team played well during the tournament but I have a couple of
concerns, the first is that two of our top players got injured in the first
game of the Provincial finals so I am not sure if they will be fit enough for
the National finals and the second is that we had a lot of good opportunities
in today’s game and we were not able to score."
Mandla Mazibuko, Mamelodi Sundowns scout and coach was there
to run his eye over the players and he said there was a lot of good talent on
display, “Going into the final game, Sonqoba were the favourites due to their
precision in front of the goals but Bree Primary School played the better game
in the final. I have identified players from all of the teams in the tournament
and I will come to the national finals to see how some of these players play
against the top opposition in their age group."
Danone
Nations Cup Gauteng Results
Bree
Primary School 2 vs Christian Progressive Primary School 0
Sikhulisile
Primary School 1 vs Nancefield Primary School 3
Michael
Mkhwanazi Primary School vs Tsumbedzo Primary School 0
Arcon
Park Primary School 1vs Sonqoba Primary School 2
Bree
Primary School 1vs Michael Mkhwanazi Primary School 0
Sikhulisile
Primary School vs 0 Arcon Park Primary School 1
Christian
Progressive School 1 vs Tsumbedzo Primary School 0
Nancefield
Primary School 0 vs Sonqoba Primary School 3
Tsumbedzo
Primary School 1 (2) vs Bree Primary School 1 (0)
Sonqoba
Primary School 3 vs Sikhulisile Primary School 0
Michael
Mkhwanazi Primary 1 vs Christina Progressive School 3
Arcon
Park Primary School 0 (2) vs Nancefield 0 (3)
Final
Bree 0 (2) vs Sonqoba 0 (0)
About Danone
Danone
Southern Africa is part of the Danone Group, one of the fastest-growing food
companies in the world. Danone is present in over 120 countries across
all continents. With 160 plants and around 100,000 employees, the Danone Group
is the number one worldwide for Fresh Dairy Products. Danone’s mission is to
bring health through food to as many people as possible.
One of the core values of the Danone Nations Cup
tournament is to encourage young people to believe in their dreams. Through
this initiative Danone offers a sporting event that reaches out to and inspires
millions of children all over the world
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