Bidvest Wits slide into third

by | Aug 28, 2015 | Sport

The Clever Boys came back from a spirit dampening loss against Mamelodi Sundowns last week to taking the third spot on the log after showing Maritzburg United how its done.

bidvest

PERFECT BOOT: Bidvest Wits debutant and goal scorer, Kris Bright trying to break the defence of opponents, Maritzburg United. Photo: Anlerie de Wet

ROUND THREE of the Absa Premiership saw Bidvest Wits beat their KwaZulu-Natal guests at home Wednesday night and slide into a familiar third place on the rankings.

Maritzburg United’s captain Ashley Hartog made a visible effort to keep the players forged in Jozi from scoring, but two powerful goals flew past him and his team.

After what was a very slow start for the Clever Boys with a couple of failed open shots at goal, New Zealander Kris Bright scored a beauty from Daine Klaite’s corner kick.

Bright had a massive game and worked well with Elias Pelembe and Sibusiso Vilakazi until he was sent to rest in the middle of the second half.

Wits kicked-off the second half with Vilakazi’s right boot directing the ball past the Maritzburg goalie, Virgil Vries, to stretch the home side’s lead to 2-0. This goal came two minutes after the start of the half with a great assist from debutant Bright.

With many attempts at goal none of the teams seemed to be able to score after Vilakazi’s success, leaving the final score at 2-0.

The discipline in this game was something to strive for in the rest of the season.  There were only a total of three yellow cards between the two teams as Wits already had five yellows against them from two games and Maritzburg a troubling 13.

Wits managed to move-up the rankings from 10th to 3rd with six points, just below their Ajax Cape Town rivals. But the Maritzburg boys failed to sway away from their 15th position.

Although the Clever Boys’ performance is a step-up from that of their 4-2 defeat last week against Mamelodi Sundowns, they still failed to convert a couple of easy opportunities. They won’t get away with these slip-ups as easily when they face the calibre of Ajax this Saturday in the MTN 8 semi-finals.

Bidvest Wits will be taking on AmaTuks in their next Absa Premiership round on September 13 in Pretoria.

PSL celebrates top players

by | May 18, 2015 | Sport

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) finished off the 2014/15 with its annual awards ceremony at the Sandton Convention Centre last night.

Kaizer Chiefs’ Tefu Mashamaite walked away with half a million rands and the title of the best player in the Premier Soccer League last night. Mashamaite also won the defender of the season and players’ player of the season awards at the

Another big winner for the evening was veteran midfielder Teko Modise of Mamelodi Sundowns. The 32-year-old Modise walked away with awards for midfielder of the season and player of the tournament in the Nedbank Cup.

Bidvest Wits, who finished third in the PSL at 52 points, went into the awards with three nominations.  Moneeb ‘Slimkat’ Josephs took the goalkeeper of the season nod while Phumlani Ntshangase was chosen as the young player of the season.

Wits’ Thulani Hlatshwayo was also nominated but lost the defender of the season award to Mashamaite.

Kazier Chiefs were the biggest winners of the evening, with two pieces of silverware under their belt from the MTN 8 and the ABSA Premiership 2014/15 title. Coach Stuart Baxter of Amakhosi Amahle walked away with coach of the season and George Maluleke was the last man standing in the MTN 8.

A complete list of the winners is below:

TELKOM KNOCKOUT:

Champions: SuperSport United

Player of the Tournament: Dove Wome (Supersport United)

MTN 8:

Champions: Kazier Chiefs

Last Man Standing (player of the tournament): George Maluleke (Kazier Chiefs)

All three nominated players in this category were from Kazier Chiefs

Nedbank Cup:

Champions: Mamelodi Sundowns

Player of the Tournament: Teko Modise (Mamelodi Sundowns)

Young Player of the Tournament: Tashreeq Morris (Ajax Cape Town)

Other awards within the PSL:

Top Goal scorer in the National First Division: Phumelele Bhengu (Thanda Royal Zulu)

Multichoice Diski Challenge Player of the Tournament: Dikgang Ngcobo (University of Pretoria)

Referee of the Season: Phillip Tinyani

Assistant Referee of the Season: Peter Chauke

Chairman’s Award: Botha Msila – staunch supporter of Bloemfontein Celtics

ABSA Premiership

Goalkeeper of the Season: Moneeb Josephs (Bidvest Wits)

Young Player of the Season: Phumlani Ntshangase (Bidvest Wits)

Coach of the Season: Stuart Baxter (Kazier Chiefs)

Top Goal Scorer of the Season: Moeketsi Sekola (Free State Stars)

ABSA Premiership Champs: Kazier Chiefs

Defender of the Season: Tefu Mashamaite (Kazier Chiefs)

Midfielder of the Season: Teko Modise (Mamelodi Sundowns)

Absa-lutely Awesome Goal: Menzi Masuku (Orlando Pirates)

Players’ player of the Season (voted for by other players): Tefu Mashamaite (Ka9izer Chiefs)

Footballer of the Season (voted for by the 16 PSL coaches): Tefu Mashamaite (Kaizer Chiefs)

Bidvest Wits through to the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup

by | Mar 18, 2015 | Sport

Nqobile Dludla and Boipelo Boikhutso

FROM ZEROS TO HEROS: The opening goal came from Dutchman Cornelis Kwakman (on the floor) in the 39th minute from a set-piece. The Clever Boys ended the game with 3 goals, sending them into the quarterfinal of the Nedbank Cup. Photo: Nqobile Dludla

FROM ZEROS TO HEROS: Henrico Botes (on the floor) scored the ultimate final goal, sending The Clever Boys to the quarterfinal of the Nedbank Cup with 3 goals.                                                        Photo: Nqobile Dludla

Bidvest Wits are through to the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup after defeating University of Pretoria (AmaTuks), 3-0 at the Bidvest Stadium on Tuesday night.

The opening goal came from Dutchman Cornelis Kwakman in the 39th minute who landed a lead goal at the back of the net from a set-piece. Sibusiso Vilakazi came in the 56th minute and doubled their lead when he dribbled past Grant Kekana and shot past Washington Arubi.

Striker Henrico Botes added a goal in the 63rd minute after receiving a pass from Ben Motshwari.

Commenting on the first goal scored by Kwakman, Bidvest Wits coach Gavin Hunt said “It broke the ice” for the game as both sides tried to break the deadlock in the opening minutes of the game.

“It was a hell of a goal wasn’t it? Jeez I mean he scored three goals and couple of weeks ago he scored one just like that. Fantastic goal!”, said Hunt.

Although The Clever Boys managed to break the deadlock, Hunt said the first half was “edgy” in terms of performance.

“We couldn’t get our passes and our movement and synchronization going. But we got much better in the second half as the game went on. We just lack a little bit of confidence, I guess after last week. All in all it was a great performance in the second half,” said Hunt.

Hunt hopes that his team maintains better “consistency” in the next games after suffering back-to-back Absa Premiership League defeats in recent games.

“I know the potential in the team. I mean from Tuesday to Tuesday we went from heros to zeros because we beat Sundowns and then we lost two games and then we won again,” added Hunt.

The opening proved to be difficult as both sides were determined to break the deadlock. The first chance for Bidvest Wits came after just 20 minutes when Sibusiso Vilakazi passed a promising shot to Papy Faty whose attempt went over the post.

AmaTuks tried to score straight after but Moeneeb Josephs was too quick for Geofrey Massa’s header.

The Clever Boys, who fielded the 16-year-old Liam Jordan last night, managed to hold on to their lead and secured themselves a place in the quarterfinals.

Post-match interview with AmaTuks coach Sammy Troughton