TUT ready to avenge past defeats and knock UJ out in Varsity Football semi-final

The battle for Varsity Football silverware has reached its decisive stage, with only four teams left standing. Record champions TUT will make the short trip to face city rivals UJ, eager to avenge past defeats while maintaining their impressive record of knocking UJ out in knockout stages.

The highly anticipated clash will also serve as a repeat of the 2023 Varsity Football final, promising yet another fierce encounter as the Red Army and UJ collide once more with a spot in the final on the line.

Red Army assistant coach Stuart Mhlongo believes his side’s preparations are in place although it took them the last game of round robin to qualify for the semis.

“The team is in good spirit, and we are excited for Thursday’s game. Looking at the way we played this season I think we started well and along the way complacency kicked in. Against Wits we were supposed to collect maximum points we made an error by conceding a penalty and allowed Wits to come back into the game, we ended up getting a point,” said Mhlongo.

“In Mafikeng it was a balanced game, looking how we conceded they scored a beautiful goal but looking at it in a different angle it looked offside. We all know playing in Mafikeng is not easy especially with the support they have. we lacked concentration as well without blaming the officials. Same with UJ we played well and anticipated that UJ will be dangerous on set-pieces that’s where they have been lethal. It gave us an opportunity to see how far we are in terms of mental strength.”

TUT will travel to UJ Soweto Campus where they last won their trophy in 2023. The Red Army taunted UJ in their backyard in a number of times, they will look to put a stop on TUT’s dominance while TUT looks to continue to be a thorn to the Joburg side.

“Playing UJ in their backyard is never easy, but we all know that when we lifted the cup in 2022 and 2023, we won against UJ in their backyard. They hate losing against us and they want to put a stop to that but for them to lift the trophy they have to win this game. We plan to play nine games and that is where our focus in at,” he adds

“Every year when we start the tournament we prepare to play all nine games; we are confident that we have what it takes to get maximum results but is not going to be easy. We know our targets; we want to add the fifth star on our jerseys we are confident we can upset them in their backyard.”

Fixtures: HERE  

Tickets: HERE.

By: Lehlogonolo Ditshego