A day of shocks as big guns bow out of the U19 Premier Cup

 

4 April 2015, Cape Town: The 2015 Metropolitan U-19 Premier Cup entered the do-or-die knockout phase on an exciting day that delivered the shock elimination of defending champions, Ajax Cape Town, and last year’s runners up, Mamelodi Sundowns, in the final round of group matches at Erica Park in Belhar on Saturday. 

Bidvest Wits, Jumbo Giants, JL Zwane, Hellenic, Milano United, SuperSport United, Old Mutual Academy and Glendene United progressed from a Round of 16 that produced some tense, closely contested football as the tournament reached the stage where teams were afforded no margin for error in the quest to claim the title of the best U-19 side in the country.

Bidvest Wits proved too strong for PPG Langa, beating them 5-0 with goals from Reeve Fosler, Liam Jordan, Sizwe Twala, Somila Ntsundwana and Phakamani Mahlambi. 

Jumbo Giants overcame Harmony Academy 4-3 on penalties, following a goalless draw after extra time and JL Zwane accounted for Swansea City 6-5 on penalties after the teams were locked at 2-2 after extra time. Kyle Copp and Liam Edwards netted for the Swans while Mihlali Mayambela scored a brace for their Gugulethu-based opponents.

Hellenic banged seven goals past University of Pretoria without reply through Xola Balele, Glenville Africa, Lionel Saal, Mickyle Jackson, Atang Mokhalimetso and a Byron Swarts brace, while Milano United edged out Vasco Da Gama 1-0 in a fiery local derby, courtesy of Rameez Jacobs’ second half strike. A Kwanele Zulu goal earned SuperSport United a 1-0 victory over AmaZulu and Old Mutual Academy booked their place in the last eight, with Clint Fredericks’ spectacular scissors kick settling a close match against Greenwood Athletic.

In the final match of an action-packed day, Glendene United cruised to a 3-0 triumph over Morgenster United, their goals scored by Elasto Kapowezha, Jody Jansen and Bathanda Mzilikazi.

In the pick of the group games, Ajax, who had beaten Berea Albion 3-0 the previous evening, fell 1-0 to local rivals, Vasco Da Gama to end up third in Group A, which was won by the surprise package of the group, PPG Langa. Meanwhile, Sundowns were ousted after going down by the same score to Hellenic in Group G and Swansea needed a late equaliser against University of Stellenbosch to scrape into the second round on goals scored in Group C.

“The 27^th edition of the Metropolitan U-19 Premier Cup has already produced more than a few upsets which demonstrates the current healthy level of competitive youth football in South Africa. From a sponsor’s point of view, Metropolitan is very happy to see the progress from the development process we have invested in borne out on the field of play,” said Vuyo Lee, MMI Executive for Brand and Corporate Affairs. “The emergence of a number of potential legends of the future, many coming from somewhat unlikely sources, reinforces our belief in advancing the prospects of our youth through football development.”   

During the luncheon interval members of the Farouk Abrahams Goalkeeping Academy, one of Metropolitan’s CSI projects, gave a demonstration on the field.