The 2017 Danone Nations
Cup journey is almost at and end, with the nine schools that will be competing
for the national title and, with it, the honour of representing the country at
the competition’s world finals, identified.
The last of the provincial
final tournaments – that of Gauteng – took place in Reiger Park last Saturday,
and Vereeniging’s Arcon Park Primary School will join the eight other
provincial champions, at the same venue, on Saturday July 1st for
the national finals.
The winner on that day
will be traveling to New York in September to play in the Danone Nations Cup
world finals.
The Gauteng finals
produced soccer of high quality, with more goals scored (45) on the day than
have been seen at any of the other provincial finals this year.
A significant feature of
the day was the presence of Reddam Park Prep School, a Bedfordview private
school representing the Johannesburg Primary Schools Football Association, the
body that organises soccer among the former model C and private schools in South
Africa.
Reddam came up against the
eventual champions, Acron Park, in their opening pool game and lost a thriller
3-4 in what turned out to be an elimination game. It was a pity because they
turned out to be one of the best teams on the day and would have been worthy
finalists.
Acron Park ended up
unbeaten, beating Roseview Primary of Nigel 2-0 in the final and they will be
back in Reiger Park at the national finals in a fortnight’s time.
Sam Nnete, Acron Park’s
manager explained that this is the second time they have reached the provincial
finals. They were there in 2014 and it didn’t go very well for them.
“We went back to the
drawing board after that and began putting together a team that would get us to
the nationals,” he said. “This is that team”
The school has a football
academy attached to it that the boys play in, so they know each other well,
which was a great help in getting them to the nationals, Nnete said.
“The hard work starts now.
We only have two weeks to prepare for the nationals, whereas the other
provinces have had longer. However, that is not a worry because we aren’t
planning to make any changes or introduce anything new that would unsettle the
kids.”
Their most difficult game
at the provincial finals was the first game of the day against Reddam. “They
were well prepared and organised and had some talented players,” Nnete said.
“They were resilient and came back at us every time we scored.”
While Nnete understands
that soccer is a team sport, he said three of his players were of particular
value. “Our striker can score from outside the box and we have a solid back
line. That bodes well for the nationals – they can both score and defend
effectively.”
The tournament’s kit
sponsors, Mille, ran a competition at the Gauteng finals during which the fans
and players took part in a ‘shoot for goals’ competition. More than 50 pairs of
Mille shoes were won, as well as loads of Danone products including Nutriday
and Yogisip.
The National Finals will
take place at Reiger Park on Saturday, 1st July, kicking off at 9.30am.
RESULTS
St Joseph's Kulani 1-2 JB
Marks Primary School
Florida Avenue Primary 3-0
Zenzeleni Primary School
Roseview Primary 1-0
Thembalethu Primary School
Reddam House Bedfordview
3-4 Arcon Park Primary School
Sunnyside Primary School
0-2 St Joseph's Kulani
JB Marks Primary School
2-4 Thembalethu Primary School
Zenzeleni Primary School
0-3 Arcon Park Primary School
Roseview Primary 0-3
Sunnyside Primary School
St Joseph's Kulani 2-0
Thembalethu Primary School
Arcon Park Primary School
3-0 Florida Avenue Primary
JB Marks Primary School
0-3 Roseview Primary
Zenzeleni Primary School
0-3 Reddam House Bedfordview
Thembalethu Primary School
1-2 Sunnyside Primary School
St Joseph's Kulani 0-1
Roseview Primary
Florida Avenue Primary 0-2
Reddam House Bedfordview
DNC Partners
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