Walmer High School wins Eastern Province Kay Motsepe Schools Cup provincial finals

Port Elizabeth’s Walmer High School beat Pangalele Secondary School on penalties to be crowned the Eastern Cape under-19 Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Provincial soccer champions.

Not only does the school qualify for the national finals in October, but also get the R100 000 provincial first prize to use to fund legacy projects at the school that will benefit the students as well as the broader community. All is not lost for Pangalele as they also qualify for the national finals and stand a chance to win the R1 million first prize or R600 000, R500 000 or R400 000 if they finish in second, third or fourth place respectively.

Walmer have been playing in the tournament since 2013.  Last year they made it through to the provincial finals where they lost in the final to Lingelihle SSS, but did get a berth in the national finals.

Their team manager, Lunga Lloyd, said they have redeemed themselves this year by winning the provincial title. “This year we have an experienced team – seven of last year’s team are back – and we have done well.  The players are truly committed to this tournament,” he said. 

“I thought that my team did a pretty good job, although they were nervous,” Lloyd said. “We were the host school and therefore had home ground advantage and the team had no choice but to play for a win and not disappoint the fans.”

Lloyd said the victory was a team effort, although midfielder, Philasande Manzi, has been one of their stars and has caught the attention of the professional scouts.

The next step is the nationals and Lloyd said they go back to the drawing board now to rectify the mistakes they made at last year’s finals. “We did badly last year, not due to lack of skills, but because the players never realised how strong the competition was. This time we need to concentrate and focus on why we qualified and what we want to achieve.”

The team is training hard now and will take each game as it comes and try to remain one step ahead of their opponents, Lloyd said.

“The teams from Gauteng, KZN and the Free State will be tough, however we will fight tooth and nail to make sure that we at least rank much higher than we did last year,” he concluded.

Eastern Cape Provincial Finals Results:

Stream A

St James SSS 2 vs. TEM Mrwetyana 0

Walmer HS 0 vs. Tsholomnqa SSS 0

St James SSS 0 vs. Walmer 0

TEM Mrwetyana 0 vs. Tsholomnqa 2

St James SSS 3 vs. Tsholomnqa 1

Walmer HS 5 vs. TEM Mrwetyana 1

Stream B

Malcomess SSS 0 vs. Toleni SSS 0

Malcomess SSS 1 vs. Pangalele SSS 1

Toleni SSS 0 vs. Pangalele SSS 1

Final

Walmer 0 vs. Pangalele 0. Walmer won 3-2 on penalties.