The George Family Knockout Soccer Tournament was hosted by Helderberg Rovers at the Lwandle Sports Ground on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 February.
Young Bafana Soccer Academy (YB) entered three teams in the tournament, with the u-14, -16 and senior teams vying for knockout glory.
The YB u-14 charges were in fine form and ran out well deserved victors. In the semi-final they came up against Manchester United.
Following a defensive lapse by YB, United scored in the first two minutes to go 0-1 up. But YB found their rhythm and strung together good combination plays to start dominating the game.
They found the back of the net five times in the first half, to take the half-time score to 5-1. The YB coach made numerous changes in the break, a decision that paid off as the YB youngsters added four more goals to their tally and outplayed their opponents to run out 9-1 victors and advance to the final.
This was an emphatic victory, despite the absence of several senior players, as the younger replacements showed great promise for the future.
Young Bafana met Bazuka United in the final – a tense encounter played in front of a stadium packed with emotional fans.
YB again dominated possession and territory, which eventually led to the only goal of the half from the boot of Malikhanye “Scara” Silenga (half-time: 1-0).
The intense hot and windy conditions made it difficult for both teams, but the YB charges continued to attack. The Bazuka goalkeeper was in fine form and made a string of excellent saves to keep his team in the title hunt.
Ten minutes from the end though, YB pierced the ’keeper’s defence and sealed the game thanks to a breakthrough and strike by the tournament’s top goal-scorer, Jemore Jooste. In the end, YB fully deserved their tournament victory and the hard working u-14 squad is looking forward to the competitive High Performance League, which is set to kick-off in April.
