Posts
Vasco Da Gama have been knocked out of the Sasol League National Championships and their dream of qualifying for the Women’s National League has disappeared, but head coach Nathan Peskin said his team should hold their heads high.
The Western Cape Sasol League champions finished at the bottom of Group B after losing 3-1 to Ixias FC of the Free State on Tuesday, which was followed by a 1-1 stalemate with KwaZulu-Natal-based Sunflower FC.
Head coach Nathan Peskin said his team played “exceptional well” but poor officiating coupled with adverse weather conditions counted against them. “I can say undoubtedly that Vasco Da Gama was one of the top four teams in that tournament,” he said.
In both matches Vasco conceded penalties that Nathan believe were incorrectly awarded and a goal that seemed illegitimate was allowed to stand in favour of the opposition. “We were 1-0 up in the second half (of the first match) when the ref awarded a penalty to the opposition which was never a penalty. Just shortly thereafter our keeper punches a ball from a corner. It hits our defender’s head and the ball goes straight into the goalkeepers hands. The ref awards a goal. So it was sad.
“In our final match against Sunflower we played excellently. We were underdogs but played like champions. Again leading 1-0 until seven minutes from time the ref again awards a penalty against us again nowhere even close to a penalty. So these things really affect the outcome of games.”
Peskin said the heat was a scorching 35 degrees and the big stage got the better of his players. “But poor refereeing decisions against us didn’t help either.”
Montana Vikings Basketball Club have demonstrated their dominance of the Cape Town Basketball Association (CTBA) leagues this season, winning at least seven of the 11 divisions on offer.
The Vikings took home both Super League titles in men and ladies divisions; were crowned as champions in the Under 18 girls and boys sections; won the Under 12 girls and boys leagues; and finished top of the Under 16 boys’ league.
In the last match of the season, the Vikings Super League side for men beat CPUT (Cape Peninsula University of Technology) Alumni Cats by 13 points (78-65) in a highly entertaining encounter at Gugulethu Sport Complex.
Vikings head coach for the men super league team, Craig Daniels, was delighted with his club’s victory, and said what worked for them was that their training programs were focused on individual skills and physical development. “Even though we had seven guys for this game, they were fit and were able to last the whole game. You could see that they were getting tired, but the work they put in during the course of the season helped us to get through today”.
Vikings will participate in a tournament in Johannesburg early next year “and need to show that we are better even outside the Cape Town borders”.
Nathan Coetzee, Chairperson of the CTBA, congratulated all the winners and saluted all the participants – clubs, administrators, officials, coaches and players – for making 2019 a memorable season in the local basketball. He said the season was very challenging, with few resignations from the executive last year, but everything went according to plan.
“We played more games this year than any other season, and it was a huge success. We received quite a lot of support and, with the establishment of the Western Cape Basketball Association recently, we are very excited because now we have all the necessary structures to secure more funding and get government support”.
With a professional basketball league planned for Africa next year, Coetzee said he hoped that, with the right structures in place, a franchise would be established in Cape Town “because there is a lot of talent here.”
Staff Writer
29 October 2019
As 34 Local Football Association (LFA) champions in Cape Town battled it out for promotion to the much-sought after Third Division spots in the past two weekends, the two clubs that were promoted last year are yet to kick the ball in their new division.
Woodlands United FC from Mitchells Plain and Crystal Palace of Manenberg have only played Nedbank Cup and may only play their first league games this weekend because of a disjuncture between the LFA seasons and those of the upper leagues. LFAs – the lowest leagues in the country – play from March/April to September, while other leagues start in the third/fourth quarter of the year until May the following year.
This means a 12-months waiting period for Third Division League, formerly SAB League, new comers as opposed to the three months for clubs that have been promoted to the ABC Motsepe League, GladAfrica Championship (formerly First Division) and to the Premier Soccer League.
Is this good or bad?
As much as the disjuncture breaks the momentum, it gives the rookies enough time to prepare for life in the new divisions. And the fact that both current Third Division champions, Young Pirates, and runner’s up, Matroosfontein, were in their first season, indicates that this long wait may have given them the edge and is not a bad idea after all.
Woodlands and Palace agree.
Achmat Williams, chairman of Palace, said: “It is a good thing because when you are playing in the LFA you can use players of any age, but in the SAB League you have to start with at least five players under the ages of 21. So this gives you enough time to search for new recruits and develop younger players.”
His Woodlands counterpart, Brendan Fernendes, echoed his sentiments, and added: “In SAB League you need a lot of money. I think for registration alone you pay R25 000. And then you have your medicals, match fees, transport, etc. It’s a lot of money involved so this wait gives us time to get our house in order.”