‘Maybe not today but one day we will win it’
Cape Town’s junior footballers met at a familiar footballing ground this past weekend to showcase their talent for a place in the Engen Knockout Challenge’s champ of champs in Gauteng later this year.
With Gugulethu’s Cape Town Roses and Stellenbosch FC booking their tickets to the under-20 ladies and under-18 boys’ national edition, after beating Dangerous Heroes and Cape Town City in the respective finals.
Roses won the tournament for a third consecutive year, while Stellenbosch won it for the second year in a row.
Team and individual awards were handed over to some of the finest talent, showcasing their craft, throughout the tournament, braved by hundreds of spectators.
Tricky with her feet, Zoe October, caused havoc in the midfield for her opponents. She helped Spurs Women’s FC win a bronze medal after a 1-0 victory against RV United in the third-place play-off, on Sunday, June 9.
Spurs WFC, coached by Samantha Kewana and managed by Celeste Jansen, displayed character and heart when they lost 4-2 on penalties after a 1-all draw against Dangerous Heroes in the semi-finals earlier in the day.
Jansen said they prepared the team well, but all credit goes to the players for the “never-giving-up spirit“.
On the road to the knockouts, Spurs WFC dominated their group stages after going three games unbeaten.
They beat UWC 1-0 in the opening game on Friday, before 3-1 scores against Ikamva Ladies and Salt River Blackpool.
In fine form, the Rosendaal Secondary School’s October was also awarded the midfielder of the tournament award, for the third time.
“As the captain of Spurs WFC, I just want to say, to all my teammates, what a great performance we had. Since Friday, since the first game, we never downed the tempo.
“I am very grateful and thankful for our team and supporters for pushing as hard as they can. We are young – some have experience in the Engen tournament – some have played and some haven’t,” she said.
“Spurs, keep your heads up, there is going to come another chance, it is God’s will. If it isn’t now, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day, we will win it,” said October.
From Steenberg, vice captain, Adelaide Molomo said they are happy with their performance, it gives them motivation to tackle the rest of the football season with a winning mentality.
“I feel like Engen is a great platform to showcase your talent. We’ve been here since 2021 and today we got to the semi-finals. Unfortunately, we could not make it to the finals. As long as we know we gave it our all, we are happy with ourselves,” she said.
“We are in the Sasol League, for now we are going to try and win our games and to get to the top. Keep supporting us, we appreciate you guys, we see you screaming your lungs out to help us and motivate us to score. Thank you,” said Molomo.
