Athletic Club Football Academy (ACFA) delivered one of their best performances this season when they defeated Pioniers Boys 3-0 on Saturday at the Trustco United field during their MTC HopSol Youth League U/19 clash.
The Red Army, as ACFA are known, took a while to get into the game, as they had to contain a marauding Pioniers Boys side for the better part of the first half.
The second half, however, turned out to be a different affair for ACFA, who started moving smoothly in the middle of the park and consolidating their attacks at the wings as well. Their efforts soon paid off when Kauela Opomange, Brandon Basson and Olriscoll Isaacs found the back of the net for the Red Army. Pioniers Boys tried, by all means, to salvage the match, as they kept closing in with a string of threatening passes and attacks, but ACFA’s three goals proved more than enough to seal a hard-fought but well-deserved 3-0 victory.
ACFA coach Rocky Averia was glad his boys stuck to the game plan even though things were not working for them at times.
“We kept pushing and believing in our way of play in the first half while our goalkeeper kept us in the game with four brilliant saves. I think Pioniers Boys are a tough bunch of players but our fitness came through and we started pushing the ball around in the second half,” he explained.
“There is always room for improvement but our main thing is to be patient and believe in our style of play, and everything will eventually fall into place.”
ACFA also just returned from the Bay Hill U/19 tournament in South Africa, where they made it to the quarter-finals.
“It’s one of the biggest tournaments in South Africa and we landed in the quarter-finals. It’s a high-calibre tournament, and our boys learned a lot there. It was a baptism of fire for them in South Africa, as the football they play down there is very intense, but we came back with a renewed work rate. The boys have come back with more enthusiasm, as they now want to get to that level of play. That is the point of going there so that they too can be inspired.”
The second match of the day in the MTC HopSol Youth League was between Fortis Football Academy and Okuryangava-based side Riverheights FA in the U/17 category, which saw both sides settling for a goalless draw. Riverheights mentor Richard Tjari said he was a bit disappointed in his charges’ overall performance, as he admitted that their opponents came better prepared.
“Fortis are now playing better football and have also beefed up their squad, compared to last year. The other problem is our boys still think that because they won the title last year, they are going to take things lightly, which is not supposed to happen,” he said.
“It’s not a bad day at the office because we at least got the point but I would have wanted to win the match. So, we have to rectify some things at training because the boys thought the game was going to be easy.”
Coach Lot Wilbard of Fortis was pleased with his team’s display, as they have been showing some improvements since the season started. “I like how the boys played today. The impact was there and the build-up play was also great. They followed all the instructions to the tee. It was good from start to finish,” he stated.
Earlier games played on Friday were between Kaizen Football Academy (KFA) and Dokkies Schmidt Football Academy (DSFA) in the U/12 category at the Jan Mohr field; KFA won 5-2.
KFA gaffer James Britz said: “I think the boys will get better once they get into the rhythm and once they get used to playing on the big soccer pitches because it’s a huge step for them. But otherwise, I’m happy with what I’ve seen and with the new boys who recently joined the team.” “It’s about letting them enjoy the game, and they will soon become better. The more they enjoy, the more they will come to training and will improve over time. That is the ultimate aim of our academy,” added Britz.
– slunyangwe@nepc.com.na