DAY 3 SANLAM KAY MOTSEPE SCHOOLS CUP NATIONAL FINALS

The four pre-tournament favourites at the Sanlam Kay Motsepe national Finals tournament duly advanced to the semifinal stage by winning their quarterfinal clashes at the Clive Solomon sports complex in Bloemfontein’s Manguang earlier today.

Defending champions, the Harmony Sports Academy of Virginia, representing the home province, beat KwaZulu-Natal’s Ezibukweni High 1-0 to set upa semifinal meeting with Gauteng’s School of Excellence, who were 2-1 winners over Lingelihle Secondary from the Eastern Cape.

The other semi will be between ther two sides who were probably the most impressive during the round-robin stage of the tournament – Gauteng’s Rosina Sedibane, who beat Limpopo’s Mammoka High 1-0 in their quarterfinal, and East High from Mpumalanga, who edged out Steenberg from the Western Cape in a penalty shootout after the sides were locked on 0-all at the end of normal time.

The semifinals will be at 3pm this afternoon, while the final and third-place playoff game will take place at The Central University of Technology grounds on Saturday.

The overall winners will walk off with R1million in funding for projects are their school, with the runners up getting R600 000, the 3^rd placed school R500 000 and the 4^th placed R400 000.

SANLAM KAY MOTSEPE SCHOOLS CUP NATIONAL FINALS DAY 2 WRAP UP

 

The Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup Finals tournament goes into its knockout phase on tomorrow, following two days of round-robin action.

The pre-tournament favourites – defending champions, Harmony Sports Academy of Free State, Mpumalanga’s East High and the Gauteng pair of Rosina Sedibane and the School of Excellence are all safely through to the quarterfinal stage.

Harmony and East High were both unbeaten in their pools, winning four and drawing one game each, while Rosina Sedibane and School of Excellence lost once each.

The game between Rosina and Excellence produced a fitting finale to the preliminary stages. It was a high quality affair, won 2-0 by School of Excellence in very windy conditions.

Harmony have also looked good in all their pool games and one fancies the eventual winner is going to come out of them and the Gauteng schools.

East High were, however, unbeaten in their pool and their chances cannot be discounted.

The top two schools in each of the three pools advance to the quarter finals, along with the third-placed teams who finished ahead on points.

The three pool winners were School of Excellence, Harmony and East High, and the three runners-up were Rosina Sedibane, Mammako and Lingelihle.

The two best placed third position schools were Steenberg from the Western Cape and Lindile High of Mpumalanga.

On that basis, the quarterfinal lineup is: East High v Steenberg, Rosina Sedibane v Mammako, Harmony v Ezibukweni, School of Excellence v Lingelihle

The semifinals are later on Friday, with the 3^rd place playoff and the final taking place on Saturday.

RESULTS

Pool A: Ezibukweni 2 Cloetesville 0, Sol Plaatjie 1 Gaopelelwe 1, School of Excellence 3 Gaopalelwe 0,  Rosina Sedibane 2 Cloetesville 1, Ezibukweni 1 Sol Plaatjie 0, School of Excellence 2 Rosina Sedibane 0, School of Excellence 2 Rosina Sedibane 0, Ezibukweni 3 Gaopalelwe 0.

Pool B: Lindile 1 Reitvlei 0, East High 3 Dr R Cingo 0, Benny’s Care Academy 1 Lingelilhe 1, East High 2 Lindile 1, Rietvlei 1 Benny’s Care Academy 1, Dr R Cingo 2 Ligelihle 2, Lidile 2 Benny’s Care Academy 1.

Pool C: Mceba 1 Emtshezi 0, Harmony 1 Mammoka 0, Mceba 0 Langberg 0, Steenberg 0 Emtshezi 0, Harmony 3 Emtshezi 1, Steenberg 2 Mceba 0, Mammoka 2 Langberg 1.

U-19 SANLAM KAY MOTSEPE SCHOOLS CUP NATIONAL FINALS PROGRESSING WELL

 

 

The second day of the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup tournament in Bloemfontein saw the leading contenders cement their positions with Harmony and School of Excellence securing wins to virtually assure themselves of spots in the quarterfinals.

At the end of day one, with three games played, Rosina Sedibane and Harmony were on top of the log in their respective pools, with Mpumalanga’s East High on top of the third pool. School of Excellence, who are in the same pool as Rosina Sedibane were lying second in their pool.  The two Gauteng schools will meet in the last round of matches today, which will determine who will go through in first place in their group.

In this morning’s session, Harmony and School of Excellence came though their matches successfully, beating Mammoka 1-0 and Gaopalelwe 2-0, respectively.  Rosina Sedibane are up against Cloetesville in the first game after lunch. Cloetesville were in the running after day one, but they lost to KZN’s Ezibukweni this morning and their chances of making the quarterfinals have taken a knock.

A draw or better there will assure Rosina of a spot in the quarterfinals.

Harmony take on the other KZN representatives Emtshezi after lunch and a win there should see them though in Pool C.

 

Results

Ezibukweni 2 Cloetesville 0, Sol Plaatjie 1 Gaopelelwe 1, School of Excellence 3 Gaopalelwe 0, Mceba 1 Emtshezi 0, Harmony 1 Mammoka 0, Mceba 0 Lanberg 0, Steenberg 0 Emtshezi 0, Sol Plaatje 0 Ezibukweni 1

 

 

 

SANLAM KAY MOTSEPE SCHOOLS CUP KICKS-OFF IN BLOEMFONTEIN

The U-19 National Finals of the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup kicked off at Clive Solomon Stadium in Mangaung Metro, Bloemfontein today with 18 teams competing for the R1 million on offer for first prize.  With so much at stake the players are performing at their best and there have been some exciting games.

 

Shawn Bishop, chief scout for Mamelodi Sundowns, was impressed with the talent he saw.  “Some of the players here could walk straight into a PSL Club and play for the first team,” he said.  “There is no lack of talent and I am impressed with the way the schools are playing as a team.  There is structure, composure and good team work.”

 

Most of the schools played two matches on the first day and among those to impress early on were Pretoria's Rosina Sedibane Sports Academy, who scored 11 goals in their two matches. They beat the Northwest Province representatives Sol Plaatjie and Gaopalelwe 4-1 and 7-0, respectively.

 

Pre-tournament favourites Harmony Sports School of Virginia, Free State, are on track to defend their title after recording two wins and a draw in their three pool games on the first morning. They beat Langeberg High from the Western Cape 3-0 in their opening fixture, and  Eastern Cape's Mceba High 3-1 in their second, before being held to a goaless draw by Steenberg High from the Western Cape.

 

Harmony had the afternoon off and will have just two games tomorrow, which may give them an edge over the other sides in their group who still have three to play.

 

Gauteng's School of Excellence also came into the tournament with high hopes and they experienced mixed fortunes on day one.  They lost 2-1 to Western Cape champions Cloetesville, and then beat KwaZulu-Natal's Ezibukweni 3-1 and Sol Plaatjie of Northwest 3-0. Their Stanley Muishond, marked as one of the players to watch at the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup National Finals, has not disappointed and scored a hattrick against Ezibukweni from KwaZulu-Natal.

 

Results

Pool A:  Cloetesville 2 School of Excellence 1, Rosina Sedibane 4 Sol Plaatjie 1, School of Excellence 3 Ezibuweni 1, Rosina Sedibane 7 Gaopalelwe 0, Sol Plaatjie 1 Cloetesville 0, School of Excellence 3 Sol Plaatjie 0. 

Pool B: Dr R Cingo 1 Reitvlei 0, East High College 3 Lingelihle 1, Benny's Sports Academy 2 East High College 2, Lindile 1 Dr R Cingo 0,

Pool C: Harmony 3 Langberg 0, Mammoka High 0 Steenberg 0, Harmony 3 Mceba High 1, Mammoka 1 Emtshezi 0, Harmony 0 Steenberg 0