Stellies and Roses do it again

fuad Esack|Published 8 months ago

Stellies goalkeeper Nathan Langeveldt holds on to the ball under pressure from Cape Town City’s Emile Witbooi during their side’s Engen Knockout Challenge cup final, at Erica Park, in Belhar, on Sunday. Langeveldt’s performance between the sticks earned him the goalkeeper-of-the-tournament award while Witbooi was named midfielder-of-the-tournament. Picture: Fuad Esack

In a repeat of last year’s results, the Western Cape will once again be represented by Stellenbosch FC and Cape Town Roses at this year’s Engen national Champ of Champs finals.

The two sides were crowned champions in the provincial leg of the boys’ under-18 and girls’ under-20 Knockout Challenge, at Erica Park, in Belhar, on Sunday, June 9.

Considered favourites in their respective groups, Stellenbosch, Hellenic, Cape Town City, Cape Town Spurs and Safa Cape Town Academy all made it through to the quarter-finals.

Hellenic finished on the same number of points as Stellenbosch in Group D - however, the defending champions but fell short of finishing top of the group thanks to Stellenbosch’s superior goal-difference.

Besides the high-quality soccer on display, prominent South African coaches such as Banyana Banyana coach, Desiree Ellis as well as Cape Town Spurs coach, Ernst Middendorp were both present throughout the tournament.

In the girls’ section, Gugulethu’s Cape Town Roses completed a clean sweep of results after finishing top of Group A with three wins from as many games to go through to the quarters alongside Magic Ladies from Group A, as well as losing finalists Dangerous Heroes, RV United and Spurs Women’s FC.

RV United and Real Brazilians were the two top finishers in Group B, while Dangerous Heroes and Royal Titan Ladies finished top of Group C.

Roses were the first to retain their title with an impressive 5-0 win over Philippi side Dangerous Heroes, who put up a good showing in the tournament but ultimately were no match for the class and fluidity of the defending champions.

En route to the finals, Roses beat RV United 2-1 in their semi-final, while Heroes beat Spurs 4-2 on penalties after playing to a 1-all draw.

Stellies on the other hand had to dig deep in their title defence, after they were held to a goalless draw by a resilient City side, forcing the game into a tense penalty shootout with the defending champions walking away 4-2 winners.

Stellenbosch beat Fish Hoek’s Ubuntu FC 1-0 in their semi-final match while City got away with a win by the same margin against Cape Town Spurs in the other semi.

Boys individual award winners:

Nathaniel Langeveldt – Stellenbosch FC (goalkeeper-of-the-tournament)

Aqeel Hartzenberg – Cape Town City (defender-of-the-tournament)

Emile Witbooi – Cape Town City (midfielder-of-the-tournament)

Zaydee Marang – Stellenbosch FC (striker-of-the-tournament)

Layle Davids – Valhalla United (top goalscorer)

JP Furugia – Stellenbosch (coach-of-the-tournament)

Emile Witbooi - Cape Town City (player-of-the-tournament)

Fair Play team-of-the-tournament – Valhalla United

Girls individual award winners:

Odwa Lahle – RV United (goalkeeper-of-the-tournament)

Anathi Nqotha – Dangerous Heroes (defender-of-the-tournament)