Athletic Club Football Academy (ACFA) A overcame Dokkies Schmidt Football Academy (DSFA) 2-1 in a tightly contested U/15 MTC HopSol second leg knockout match played at the SKW Stadium this past weekend.
The result was not enough, as DSFA qualified for the next stage on a 3-2 aggregate scoreline after winning the first encounter 2-0 in the first leg a couple of weeks ago.
The tough encounter saw ACFA score the first goal of the second leg midway through the first half before adding another one earlier in the second half to set the stage for a tense second half.
However, DSFA scored a late penalty towards the dying minutes of the match to make it difficult for ACFA to progress, who needed to win the match by three clear goals in order to progress but could only manage a 2-1 victory at the end of the match.
DSFA coach Robinson Kavemunu was a clearly frustrated coach for most of the game, as his charges allowed ACFA a sniff at the opportunity to progress.
“It was a good game, but we were caught napping and conceded the two goals earlier on, but they managed to come back from halftime and follow instructions,” he said.
He said the halftime pep talk with his players managed to get them back in line, as the game was very important to them.
“The game plan today was just to play our normal football, obviously, they needed two goals because we beat them in the first leg 2-0. We tried to keep them at bay and not concede, which eventually happened, but then we had a little chat and decided that we had to play more. Whenever you have the ball, they will not score, and if you are in possession, you can easily control the game,” he added.
He praised his team for being able to react well, play according to instructions, and utilise a chance, which made sure they progressed to the next round of the knockout stages.
“We had a good, unbeaten run, but today we lost. This should serve as motivation for the boys as we prepare for the ACFA tournament, which is around the corner. I think we performed well this season as we are a new club and the boys are slowly learning the tactics. We have been growing together quite well. The boys have responded well to everything,” he concluded.
DSFA left winger Rowan Cloete, who had a stellar performance said he was quite happy and proud of his performance on the day.
“I feel proud of my performance as well as that of the team. I want to thank our coach for giving us the right tactics today. I would like to improve on my goal scoring ratio so as to help the team win more matches,” he said.
ACFA’s coach Benedictus Haoseb, congratulated his opponents, as they have come so far while being new in the league.
“We were the better team today on the field, in terms of preparation and the game plan. We were just unfortunate with the late penalty against us to make it 2-1, so I feel how the boys are feeling,” he said.
Haoseb feels there are a lot of positives to take from the game, while lamenting the first leg and some questionable match-officiating decisions.
“I am proud of DSFA as the new kids on the block. They are showing the big guns how it’s done and the effort they are putting into training, as you can see on their social media pages. They are always busy and hungry, and even when they are losing, they don’t go down easily, but with a fight,” he concluded.
Elsewhere, Ramblers B U/15 team got an 8-1 hiding from Kasaona Football Academy’s U/15 at the same venue.
Ramblers did not have the full complement and had to play large positions of the game with 10 men following an injury.
Kasaona FA took advantage and started attacking, resulting in a superior goal difference in the end.
Ramblers coach Uno Kaveru felt the opening 10 minutes had some impactful moments and some chances they could have taken, which could have changed the game.
“The first half was not as good as you can see; we had a player injured and ended the game with fewer players. Once a team starts figuring out the goalie is not there, they start bombarding you with shots,” he said.
Winning coach Hivii Kasaona was very happy with her players’ performance, saying they capitalised on all the chances they created.
“I hope we maintain this standard if not, we should just add on to what we have shown today. The idea is to be better with every game we play, but we played as a unit from the defence to the forwards; that is why we got the result we got because we played as one unit,” she concluded.