Senior football returns to Northerns
It’s almost the start of a new season, full of new possibilities for Benoni Northerns Football Club (BNFC).
The club’s first team got their pre-season matches off to a start on Saturday, February 7, when they took on Bedfordview Country Club (BCC), at Northern Areas, in the first encounter of the ELFA Top Eight Competition.
Newly-appointed first team coach Jannie van den Berg is still getting to know the players and the squad at his disposal.
He fielded a team of mainly fringe players in Saturday’s game, which ended in a 2-0 loss.
Although not entirely pleased with what he saw on the pitch, the new coach is confident that his team will be fit and strong when the season kicks off in a month-and-a-half’s time.
“We still have a number of guys who are unavailable and playing other sports, so I have given them until the end of February to finish up their other activities and get to training with the squad,” he said.
The coach is clear that he wants a team of fit and dedicated players, with the added importance of a good attitude.
“Attitude is like a flat tyre, it works only if you change it, and that is what I want from my players,” he explained.
Van den Berg has bucket-loads of coaching experience under his belt and he has played for and coached BNFC’s first team in the past.
He has also been extremely successful as coach of the Easterns u-23 team for a number of years, and he recently called the shots for Easterns Master’s team.
Northerns will take on Highlands Park in their next pre-season game, away from home, on Saturday, February 14.
