Tuks upbeat despite semi-final defeat
"There is not really much I can fault the team on. Mind you, this is one of the youngest Tuks teams to play Varsity football."
Tuks football team remain positive despite going down to University of Free State in the Varsity Football tournament semi-final.
One of the team’s elder statesmen Nhlanhla Mabaso said he believed the team was good enough to reach the final.
“When you play for Tuks, you always believe that we are going to make it all the way. It is what sport at Tuks is about. We fight together, win together and lose together. Last night’s loss against Kovsies is only a minor setback for a major comeback,” he said.
He scored a brilliant goal for Tuks when he headed the ball into the back of the net in the third minute but it wasn’t meant to be when the team ended up going 2-1 down.
“There is not really much I can fault the team on. Mind you, this is one of the youngest Tuks teams to play Varsity football. Still, these young players fought for each other and Tuks’ honour every time they took to the field. We were like a Band of Brothers going to war. Nothing deterred the young ones even when many had written us off,” Mabaso said.
“Unfortunately, we did not make it through to the final. But this I can promise – we played our hearts out until the very last minute,” he said.
For the master’s degree student, Lebohang Montueli, it is the end of an era – the game against Kovsies was his last in Varsity football. From next year at 25, he would be over-age to play.
He has been playing for Tuks since 2017, where Tuks ended up being the Varsity champions that year.
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“We really wanted to win. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. I am so disappointed, but I don’t wish to dwell on what could have been as that might destroy me. We went to the game focused and ready, but Kovsies were the better team on the day. I wish them well for Monday’s final,” Montueli said.
“Since this was my last Varsity Football tournament, I would like to thank the Varsity Sports and TuksFootball for allowing me to play and express myself as a player. I am in tears not only because we lost but because of how this platform changed my life. I will be forever grateful,” Montueli said.
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