Stellenbosch school beats Cape Town school to win the under-12 Western Cape Danone Nations Cup provincial final. Next stop the nationals in Gauteng

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Idas Valley Primary School from Stellenbosch made it through to the provincial finals stage of the Danone Nations Cup competition for the first time this year, and they went one step further by taking the Western Cape provincial title to qualify for next month’s national finals in Boksburg as well.

The finals were played at the Van Riebeeck Stadium in Mossel Bay last weekend, with the seven competing teams playing a round-robin competition followed by the final between the 1^st and 2^nd placed teams.

Saxonsea Primary School from Cape Town fared best in the pool stage with Idas Valley coming in second so met in the final match.  After the score deadlocked at 1-all in regulation time, Idas Valley went on to beat the favourites 3-2 on penalties.

For Idas Valley, it was just reward for the hard work they have put into the tournament since they first entered in 2013.

Anton Gordon, the team manager, has been with the school for 24 years and has been coaching the team since 2013. He said that Saxonsea Primary School was the strongest team at the provincials and they did well during the tournament, but soccer is unpredictable and it is the team that scores the most goals that wins and that is what Idas did.

What made the difference this year was bringing in another coach, Jo-Anne Baartman.  She teaches Mathematics and English FAL at the school and played for the University of Stellenbosch’s women team when she was at school.

“All the players are new to the Danone Nations Cup so it was a challenge to prepare the team because they had no experience,” said Baartman. “Our strategy worked, though, and I’m delighted that we will be going to the national finals.”’

The manager, Gordon, said he is pleased with the support they are getting from the parents of the boys.

“Preparations for the national finals are under way and without the support and encouragement of the parents, the boys would not have had the confidence to be the best on Saturday,” he said.

“Most of the players have never been to Johannesburg so they are excited. I’m hoping they will make friends and have fun during their time there.”

Idas Valley played 6 pool games at the provincial finals, winning 4 which placed them in the final. Their key player was striker, Tyler Cicero. He scored the opening goal against Saxonsea in the first 3 minutes of the final. The team had lost to Saxonsea earlier on, so they were motivated to change that around.

However Saxonsea Primary School equalised 5 minutes later to end the game 1-all requiring the penalty shoot out.

There are just 2 more provincial finalists left to qualify for the Danone Nations Cup national finals. This weekend the Eastern Cape will host their provincial final at the Laerskool Kuswag in East London leaving Gauteng the last province to host their playoffs, on Saturday, 17th June at Reiger Park.

Results

Naphakade PS 0 vs Saxonsea PS 1

Isalathiso PS 1 (2) vs Zwelihle PS 1(1)

Idas Valley PS 0 (3) vs Teske PS 0 (1)

Naphakade PS 0 (3) vs Isalathiso 0 (1)

Saxonsea PS 1 (1) vs Zwelihle PS 1 (2)

Idas Valley PS  1 vs Naphakade PS 0

Teske PS 0 (5) vs Isalathiso 0 (4)

Saxonsea PS 1 vs Idas Valley PS 0

Zwelihle PS 1 vs Naphakade PS  0

Teske PS 2 vs Saxonsea PS 0

Isalathiso PS 0 (2) vs Idas Valley 0 (1)

Teske PS 1 (2) vs Zwelihle PS 1 (3)

Saxonsea PS 1 (2) vs Isalathiso PS 0(0)

Naphakade PS 0 (3) vs Teske PS 0 (3)

Zwelihle PS 0 vs Idas Valley PS 1

Saxonsea PS 1 (2) vs Idas Valley PS 1 (3)

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