What went wrong for Tuks football

Mpho Mabelesa

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) headed to the Varsity Football Cup final. This came at the end of an eventful competition where eight teams battled it out to make it into the top four of the tournament. Initially, UP’s football team stood out as a favourite, but with them losing their first two fixtures (3-0 and 3-1 respectively), their chances of making it into the top four were slipping away. Heading into the third game, they were searching for their first point but, instead, got three of them by defeating North-West University (NWU) 2-1.

UP Tuks carried this momentum to their two subsequent games, which they won. The seventh round fixture was an important one for UP Tuks because they had to fight for the three points against Wits to keep them in contention for fourth place. However, their aim of making the top four was put on hold as Wits was able to see out their 1-0 lead against UP Tuks.

PDBY interviewed two fans of UP’s football team, Sifiso and Moses, who both initially predicted the team would surely secure top four, but were devastated after the game with Wits. When asked their thoughts on why UP Tuks had failed to make it, Moses said that he felt that UP Tuks did not have the “mental fortitude” to compete against these teams and what he found especially frustrating was their inability to win against what he felt was an “unprepared, shaky UJ team”. Sifiso felt the team gave it all they had, but it was down to “luck not being on our side.” It sure seems Tuks will be looking to improve (in a lot of areas) in light of these results. What are your predictions for the upcoming season?