BLOEMFONTEIN: The men’s football teams of two Free State universities – the Central University of Technology (CUT), Free State, and the University of the Free State (UFS), are pressured to drastically improve their position in the ongoing Varsity Football tournament. They have this opportunity in matches taking place in Bloemfontein tomorrow, Thursday 28 August.
The CUT team are still seeking their first win while the Kovsies are hunting their second win to complement their 2 − 1 victory over the Durban University of Technology (DUT) last Thursday. However, the win did not have a big impact for the UFS men’s prospects to challenge the championship, given they are still below the top-seeded four clubs with the greater potential to succeed in the challenge for the title.
In the upcoming match of round four of the competition tomorrow, the UFS are presented with a chance to improve their standing if they beat the in-form North-West University (NWU) in a crucial match for the teams in terms of improving their position on the log. A win will propel the winner of this fixture to position four on the table − pending the result of a tough clash between the third-placed University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and current leaders, the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT).
The Kovsie men’s only loss was a 0 − 1 defeat by the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in the second round of the competition fixtures played in the City of Roses a week ago. It was the first loss for the newly appointed head coach Mokete Tsotetsi, pressured to explore a remedial strategy to bounce back in contention for South Africa’s premier university title.
The CUT’s Ixias men can do themselves a big favour by beating their fellow strugglers, the DUT, in an encounter taking place at the home turf of CUT Stadium. The local boys are yet to recover from their three-match losing streak in this competition. They suffered a 1 − 4 defeat to Wits, then a 0 − 1 loss to the NWU, and finally a 1 − 3 trouncing to the TUT, last Thursday in Bloemfontein. The CUT boys remain at the bottom of the table − without any points to show for their efforts, along with the DUT.
In truth, the CUT men are yet to show recovery from their dismal run in last year’s edition, which saw them escape relegation from the competition.
The championship has eluded both Free State institutions. The UFS men’s closest attempt to lifting the prestigious university trophy was reaching the semifinal last year, while the CUT did so in 2016. The eight teams’ battle will culminate in two of them playing in the final, which is scheduled for 2 October.
