SOCCER: Wits men lose to neighbours UJ

by | Mar 11, 2015 | Sport

The Wits Football Club Men’s side suffered a blow after losing 1-0 to the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Tuesday evening.

The winning goal was struck by Lindani Mazibuko after a set piece that had been awarded to UJ due to an unfair tackle on one of their players in the first 35 minutes of the game.

The first match of the University Sport South Africa (USSA) Gauteng Football League saw UJ dominating in the first half of the game. UJ head coach Bradley Carnell explained it was a “calculated approach from the team” to ensure that they play well enough to win the first game of the season.

The combination of Treasure Dlamini, Tshepo Tolo, Sadro Claro and Tebogo Mandy made for entertaining viewing as they attacked the Wits defense coming from the left side of the park in the first half of the match.

With the beginning of the second half, the game seemed to even out with both teams attacking equally.

Wits pushed forward with a good offense but missed a few goal chances.

“They will improve as in the last 15 mins the boys were starting to cramp and stuff so not really lack of fitness but really lack real competitive match fitness.”

The Wits combination of Ayanda Makua and Gift Baloyi kept the pressure on the opposition’s defense, but UJ rose to the occasion by ensuring that Wits could not break them down completely.

In a counter attack at 50 minutes, Dlamini missed two perfect scoring opportunities in order to extend their lead by hitting the crossbar and side bar in less than a minute.

The last 20 minutes of the game saw Wits attacking UJ steadily but despite the team’s efforts and the fans’ singing, the match ended 1-0.

Wits coach Karabo Mogudi acknowledged that UJ had been playing in other competitive tournaments and that gave them an advantage in Tuesday’s game.

Mogudi added that Wits failed to achieve a competitive edge due to a lack of “real competitive match fitness”.

The Wits women’s and men’s teams are set to play against the Tshwane University of Technology on the 17th of March 2015 at Bidvest Stadium. Kickoff is at 6:30pm and 8:30pm.

 

SOCCER: Freshers meet and greet Bidvest Wits players

by | Feb 9, 2015 | Sport

MY TURN: First years patiently waiting for their turn to get their posters signed by

MY TURN: First years patiently wait for their turn to get their posters signed by Bidvest Wits player Christopher Katongo.                                       Photo: Nqobile Dludla

First years talked non-stop about finally meeting their favourite Bidvest Wits players on Sunday at the orientation week welcome day friendly match between the Clever Boys and the Wits Football Club.

First-year Sonwabile Nzeke from Klerksdorp couldn’t believe that he finally got to meet the Bidvest Wits team in person.

“Yoh I’m not even going to wash my body today because my favourite Bidvest Wits players signed my arm. I even stole a few signed posters [of the squad]”

“The level of facilities were impressive because we come from rural towns where there is hardly anything. From the sport facility, to how the players played,” said Nzeke.

His newly-found friend, Lesiba Phahladira, was also in awe as it was his first time ever at a stadium.

“The match was quite entertaining because this was my first time at the stadium for a live match. My favourite Bidvest Wits player is Rowen Fernandez. When he signed [my hand] I felt like calling my mom and say ‘Fernandez touched my hand’. It was so great,” said Phahladira.

The emotional Ramathaba Masipa Bidvest Wits said he “almost cried” when he saw Moeneeb Josephs who is widely known as ‘Slim Kat’.

“Yoh I’m not even going to wash my body today because my favourite Bidvest Wits players signed my arm”

“From a very young age I’ve always been a supporter. It was great seeing them, I even got an autograph and took pictures with Katongo, Slim Kat. Yoh, I almost cried I was emotional. I’ve always wanted to meet Slim Kat in person and he was so friendly. On the pitch he is normally crazy so I expected him to be mean,” said Masipa.

Conflicted in which team to support, the stadium shock nonetheless in excitement when Yusuf Jappie’s only winning goal sent Bidvest Wits into a lead just before half time.

“It was a good game. The university played very well to be honest. Good on the ball, good technically. We have a lot of young players coming through so this is a perfect opportunity to look at them and see at what they can do and these are the games that give us that indication. We’ll continue to groom but individually they are talented and that’s important for us,” said assistant coach Andre Arendse.

 

Wits Soccer shoots for Nationals

by | Sep 19, 2014 | Sport

HECTIC HEADER: During soccer practice at Diggs fields on Tuesday, Wits team captain Tebogo Digoamaje said he is confident in his team’s performance for their upcoming semi-final match against Tuks in the USSA Gauteng League, where a top three spot will get them to nationals. Photo: Lameez Omarjee

HECTIC HEADER: During soccer practice at Diggs fields on Tuesday, Wits team captain Tebogo Digoamaje said he is confident in his team’s performance for their upcoming semi-final match against Tuks in the USSA Gauteng League, where a top three spot will get them to nationals.
Photo: Lameez Omarjee

If the Wits men’s soccer team beat Tuks, Pretoria University’s log leaders, next week, it will go through to the national finals of the University Sports South Africa (USSA) tournament in December.

Through this possible win at next week Tuesday’s match, Wits would attain one of the top three positions in the Gauteng USSA League and would then qualify for the national tournament to be held in Durban, in the first week of December.
Meeting for the second time with their opponents, Wits University football coach Karabo Mogudi said his men were more than prepared for Tuks.

Cruising through competition

“They are good football players; they play high intensity football which is a strong point for them. I’ve prepared the team to play the same as well. They must bring it on because we know we [are] going to bring it too,” said Mogudi.

Wits thrashed Tuks with a 3-1 win the last time there was a face-off between the two in August. Mogudi is confident his team could win against them again, even though the match is in Pretoria, on their rival’s home turf when they duel on Tuesday, September 23.

The rankings so far are as follows: Tuks first, Vaal University of Technology (VUT) second, Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) third and Wits, in fourth place.

Attaining a position in the top eight of the USSA national champs will then qualify Wits for the Varsity Football league. They did not qualify last year.

“The team should be the star. I don’t want individualism … if the team wins, the players shine. It’s that simple”

Wits team captain Tebogo Digoamaje, 2nd year BSc Property Studies, who joined the team last year felt that their performance this season was better because the squad was bigger. About 25 players are registered for the USSA Gauteng League. Last year the smaller team battled without squad rotations between games.

Digoamaje revealed that past lost matches were due to mistakes they had made, rather than their opponent’s performance.

Unshakable confidence

However, he had “full respect for every opponent” they played against. In preparation for their game against Tuks, he said, “We’ve implemented a number of strategies, various ones, and the coach will decide which will lead us to victory and get us to nationals.”

Left wing Neo Makua, 3rd year BSc Quantity Surveying, felt confident that the team will go through to national championships. “The coach made us become a team, so we put the team before the individual.”

Although there are strong individuals playing, Mogudi emphasised team play rather than individual stars. “The team should be the star. I don’t want individualism … if the team wins, the players shine. It’s that simple,” he said.

Mogudi is confident in the team’s tactics and credits his technical team, which consists: assistant coach Dumisani Thusi, goal-keeper coach Kgabo Ditsebe and team manager, Sanele Nene for developing new ideas and strategies for success.

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Wits FC ready for USSA Gauteng Football League

by | Aug 7, 2014 | Sport

SETTING THE BAR HIGH: In the top four, Wits FC head coach, Karabo Mogudi is certain that his team will qualify for the USSA Gauetng Football League semi-finals. Photo: Nqobile Dludla

SETTING THE BAR HIGH: In the top four, Wits FC head coach, Karabo Mogudi is certain that his team will qualify for the USSA Gauteng Football League semi-finals. Photo: Nqobile Dludla

Wits FC coach Karabo Mogudi says he is confident enough that his team will remain in the top four of the University Sport South Africa (USSA) Gauteng qualifiers as the season resumed on Tuesday.

The team has three more matches left until the semi-finals, which will see the top four teams battling it out to qualify for the USSA National Championships taking place in December.

“We have a fairly good squad this year. Performance is a little bit better [than the previous year].   We’ve tried and done our best and we think we’ll get there, but the job is not done yet. Our objective is to stay in the top four, qualify for the USSA National Champs and qualify for Varsity football,” said Mogudi.

For Wits FC to qualify for the USSA National Championships they need a minimum of three wins that will put the team through to the semi-finals, whether they draw or lose one game out of the remaining four. Of the four teams battling it out in the semi-finals, only three will be chosen to represent Gauteng at nationals.

“I’m gunning for three wins and one draw. I’m not looking for a loss. We must decide our own destiny. We need to decide and say ‘we are going to be in the top four and we are going to the national champs’,” said Mogudi.

“If we get 17 [points] that means we are definitely in the top four because that means we would have beaten UP (University of Pretoria) and UJ (University of Johannesburg) who are close to us … We are confident that we can do the job in the last two matches,” said Mogudi.

“I’m gunning for three wins and one draw. I’m not looking for a loss”
Last year the team juggled both Varsity Football and the Gauteng League which resulted in constant injuries and lethargy. According to Mogudi, he couldn’t rotate players due to injuries and prolonged recovery because there were “not enough [players] to rotate with”.

Mogudi believes sport administration support, quality players, medical assistance and high performance assistance will have a positive impact on the team’s objectives and the quality of the team that he is grooming.

“We need res, food, medical assistance, bursaries et cetera. Unfortunately we don’t get that much. The budget is limited. So for those living off campus it is a challenge for them to come to practice on weekends.”

According to Mogudi, “with some of the matches the team did not have a physio due to, among other things, the lack of funds. So dealing with a part-time physio means that when they are working on the same day as the match you end up going without them.”

Despite the challenges, Mogudi hopes to encourage the spirit of commitment among his players.

At number four, Wits FC has 11 points along with UP sitting at number three. In second place, Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Pretoria also has 11 points and sitting comfortably at number one, the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) Vanderbijlpark has 16 points.

For the upcoming matches, Wits FC will face UP, Midrand Graduate Institute and Medunsa.