Tuks’ soccer team ensured with a “razor-sharp” performance last night against CUT that it still has a chance of qualifying for the Varsity Tournament semi-finals.
One might wonder why the word razor is used to refer to Tuks’ 5-0 victory. There is a good reason for that. Raymond Matlamela was brilliant. He scored three of Tuks’ goals. Among his teammates, he is known as Razor. So it would be fair to say that last night on Tuks’ home field, he was razor sharp in the way he outfoxed CUT’s defenders.
This is how his heroics were described. Matlamela was the playmaker with the answers. When a long pass from Damian Overmeyer found the clean boot of Matlamela, he controlled it perfectly. Curling it in the far post to hand the home side their much-needed lead. On the stroke of halftime, Matlamela scored again, impressing with acrobatic manoeuvres. Apart from scoring three goals, he was also instrumental in setting up Paballo Mamabolo to score.
Before last night’s match, everyone knew that Tuks’ fate no longer rested in the hands of the players. There are quite a few “cards” that need to fall into place, and they did. TUT and Wits both lost, which means that they still only have eight points on the log. Tuks has seven.
So this Thursday will be a do-or-die situation for Tuks, TUT and Wits. If Tuks beats DUT, and they should, the team will have 10 points. But in the bigger picture, that doesn’t mean anything. Their fate depends on the outcome of two other games. Northwest has to beat Wits, and Kovsies has to beat TUT. It would be risky to bet on that happening. But then again, in the past, lightning has struck the same place twice.
Tuks’ players make it clear that they are not going to be sidetracked by all sorts of talk about this team having to beat that team for this or that to happen.
According to Joshua Wood, only one thing matters: focusing on what the team can control. Which is beating DUT, ensuring 10 points on the log.
“Yesterday’s game was amazing. The boys really showed up. At the moment, the vibe in the team is buzzing. We know it’s not entirely in our hands, but we’re ready to fight for that semi spot and give it everything in the last game. Really exciting times ahead.”
Mamabolo added, saying, “We owed it to ourselves and the fans to score goals. It was a good display, and we hope to grow on that. And I hope, by God’s grace, we make it to the semis.”
According to Overmeyer, at long last, the team gave the crowd a performance worth watching, showing everyone “what the team is really about”.
