Mmamitlwa Primary School got into
the North West provincial final match of the under-12 Danone Nations Cup soccer
competition though the back door, but they took full advantage of the
opportunity, winning the title and with it the right to represent their
province at the competition’s national finals in Boksburg in July.
Mmamitlwa finished third on the
log after the round-robin stage of last Saturday’s provincial finals in
Klerksdorp, but the team that finished top of the log, BM Mokitime, was
disqualified because of play eligibility issues, which elevated them into the
final.
There, they met Inyatelo Primary
School in the final match, which ended in a one-all draw. Mmamitlwa went on to
win the penalty shootout to become the provincial champions in the first time
that they appeared in the finals.
Moses Mahau, coach of Mmamitlwa,
was very impressed by the standard of soccer at the provincial finals, “It
exceeded my expectations,” he said. “The competition was tough and it was clear
that all the schools came with the aim of winning the North West title.”
There was a lot of talent on
display and it was disappointing that the undoubted star of the day was from
the disqualified school and he will not get the chance to show his skills at
the next level.
“I’m thrilled that we won, even
though it seemed that we wouldn’t have made it in the beginning. After the
disqualification, the players were excited to be given a second opportunity to
fight to win the title and were not going to let it go to waste,” Mahau said.
The team made a number of
mistakes on the day that will have to be corrected if they want to do well at
the national finals, the coach said.
In their first match, against BM
Mokitime Primary School, they lost 1-0 and Mahau admitted they were beaten by a
better team in the game.
Their second match was against
Inyatelo Primary, the team they were to meet again in the final. They lost 1-0,
but Mahau was not discouraged because it was their first time playing in the
provincial finals.
They put it together in the final
pool game, against Tshwaraganelo Primary, winning 4-1, a convincing win and the
team was upbeat and confident going into the final match, which was a tense
affair.
Neither team was willing to lose
this opportunity to play at the national finals. The gamed ended in a 1 all
draw and went into penalties. Mmamitlwa managed to convert all their penalties,
while Inyatelo Primary could only score once.
RESULTS
Game 1: Tshwaraganelo Primary
School 2 vs Inyatelo Primary School 2
Game 2: BM Mokitime Primary
School 0 vs Mmamitlwa Primary School 3
Game 3: BM Mokitime Primary School
0 vs Tshwaraganelo Primary School 3
Game 4: Inyatelo Primary School 1
vs Mmamitlwa Primary School 0
Game 5: Mmamitlwa Primary
School 4 vs Tshwaraganelo Primary School 1
Final: Inyatelo Primary School 1
(1) vs Mmamitlwa Primary School 1 (3)
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