It is said that a certain “Fat Lady” has to sing before anything can be taken for granted in sports.
Still, Tuks’s sports fans can be forgiven for being excited about the results of the Varsity Football Tournament. After the fourth round, the Tuks are the only unbeaten team – log leaders. Got the second-best goal difference, having scored seven goals and only conceded two.
This statistic is significant. It is hard to remember when the last Tuks scored so many goals so early on in the tournament. In the past, one of the drawbacks for Tuks was its inability to make scoring opportunities count. The players have fine-tuned the art of getting the ball to hit the back of their opponent’s goal net. There is no fault to be found with Tuks’s defensive play.
Last week’s 2–1 victory against Kovsies was significant as it had been the clash between the only two unbeaten teams.
On being complimented on Tuks’s victory, Atlegang Masemola, one of the team’s senior players, said, “We are gunning for the gold.
“It was a high-tempo game, as expected, from the first whistle to the last. Both teams proved why it was a top-of-the-table clash. Kovsies had the majority of possession, but we were not fazed about it. We knew we would eventually get our moments. The difference was how quickly you got the ball into the crucial areas, being effective and taking your chances. We mastered that aspect of the game. We were good in the moments that mattered. That got us over the line.”
According to Joshua Wood, the team had to overcome a few mental challenges on the day of the match.
“We had to get dressed on the bus, and our time to properly warm up was limited. It led to us starting out sluggishly in the first 15 minutes. Overall, it was not one of our best games.
“One of the signatures of a quality team is that you can still find a way to win even if you are not playing at your best. We did it against Kovsies. What made the difference was how our experienced players stepped up and encouraged the rest of us to do so. At that moment, Ntokozo Madela scored our first goal with a header, and we settled down as a team. I knew we were going to win.”
It was all about getting the three points for Tuks’s goalkeeper, Jayden van der Walt.
“It was an intense game. We grinded out the victory. That is what mattered in the end. It does not matter whether you do so, playing pretty or ugly. That is not the objective; the objective is to win the tournament. To do so means you have to win games.”
Tuks is in for another humdinger on Thursday when they face off against UWC at Tuks. The visitors only lost once and are one of four teams with seven points on the log. Tuks has 10, so there is everything to play for. Kickoff is at 17:00.