Riverheights Football Academy U/19 dominated play at the Jan Mohr football field, when they beat Prolific Soccer Club 2-0 in the MTC HopSol Youth League at the weekend.

Riverheights now advances to the next stage of the league with only a few games remaining. The match between the two teams had both sides struggling to break down each other’s defences, with most of the play concentrated in the midfield.

Winning coach Penda Ndivayele felt his players were not in the right state of mind, as they were off for most of the game.  

“The boys got back in the second half, which was good, and I am happy for the victory at least,” he said.

In the first half, neither team had many shots on target, but after the half-time talk they played better in the second half, which proved vital.  

“We had to solve some issues at half-time because the boys were off, as this age group hasn’t played for a while. So, the half-time talk helped us in the end,” he said.

He added: “Going into the next round, we need to improve our finishing, which is very poor. We got a lot of chances in front of goal but squandered them. The players also need to keep concentration and stay focused until the game is over.”

Ndivayele felt the pressure, but said they contained it throughout the match; however, it was frustrating to see the opportunities the team wasted. 

“I am not happy with our performance today based on how we usually do on the field. I expected the team to knock the ball around and take control of the game, but I guess every day comes with a different phase. So, I should be just happy with the fact that we won today,” he said.

Prolific Soccer Club coach Kuli Muundjua said the result was disappointing, but fair in the end, as they faced a formidable opponent.

“Riverheights is a really good team. We were hoping to come out with a result, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out. That’s how the game goes sometimes; things go your way, and other times they don’t. But I am glad we came and put up a good fight throughout the whole season. We tried to play them out of their game, but they are a well-drilled team, and there’s not much you can do but play our game, which did not pan out our way,” he said.

 “Now we have been knocked out, but moving forward, we will come back stronger, work on our tactics, and return as a better team.”

The coach expressed happiness with the overall display of football throughout the season, even though they did not get the desired result.

Elsewhere

Ballers Boys U/15 crushed St. Paul’s College 6-0 at the same venue. The struggling school team could not hold up against the relentless attack from Baller Boys, clearly showing the gap between academy teams and school teams.

Coach Andreas Shea praised his boys’ performance, as the team enjoyed large periods of ball possession throughout the match. 

“Today we played as we trained, the main thing was to knock the ball around and create spaces in the middle. Watching how St. Paul’s have been playing, we knew this was one of the games from which we had to collect maximum points and improve our goal difference,” he said.

He added: “The main aim was to score a lot of goals so the boys could build confidence in holding the ball.”

Shea used this fixture to prepare for his upcoming games against Julinho Athletic Football Club and Ramblers, as he considers them his toughest opponents in the group. 

“I used this game to plan and outline how to play in the upcoming matches,” he noted.

-slunyangwe@nepc.com.na