The third round of the Women’s Varsity Football group stages brought the most goals so far, with as many as 18 scored between the four games this afternoon. UWC cemented their favourites tag by beating record champions TUT in one of the early kick-offs, while Tuks became the fourth side to book their semi-final ticket and UJ ran riot once more.
GROUP A
UWC with a statement win over TUT
In the much-anticipated clash between the defending champions and the record champions, both sides were expected to put on a show after already qualifying for the semi-finals. UWC scored the opener through Tshegofatso Senanya after she had been played through for a one-on-one with TUT keeper Thando Sitole in the 17th minute. The 2021 winners carried their slender lead into the break, but six-time champions TUT were awarded a penalty in the 58th minute and Tshogofatso Motlogelwa calmly slotted it away to equalise. However, it was UWC who had the last laugh and stole it at the death, when captain Bongeka Gamede unleashed a shot from range to win the game in injury time.
Result: UWC 2-1 TUT
Scorers: 17’ 1-0 Tshegofatso Senanya, 58’ 1-1 Tshogofatso Motlogelwa, 70+1’ 2-1 Bongeka Gamede
FNB Player of the Match: Fikile Magama (UWC)
Wits hammer DUT
Both teams only had their honour to play for after losing their opening-round clashes and it was Wits, who put on a show this afternoon. Ofentse Malape scored the first goal in the third minute after putting the ball over the line following a scramble in the box after a corner. In the 14th minute, Wits scored from another corner, this time it was Lesego Nkoane who found the back of the net. Wits continued their first-half rout in the 22nd minute when Lesego Nkoane completed her brace after being slipped through the DUT defence. Just five minutes later Shakeerah Jacobs made it 4-0 with a beautiful free-kick. But that was still not all of the action of the first half, with Jacobs grabbing a brace thanks to a magnificent shot from outside the box for Wits. The second half wasn’t able to live up to the heights of the first interval and DUT even managed to get on the score sheet after Nokwanda Xulu converted a penalty in the 60th minute.
Result: Wits 5-1 DUT
Scorers: 2’ 1-0 Ofentse Malape, 14’ 2-0 Lesego Nkoane, 22’ 3-0 Lesego Nkoane, 27’ 4-0 Shakeerah Jacobs, 29’ 5-0 Shakeerah Jacobs, 60’ 5-1 Nokwanda Xulu
FNB Player of the Match: Shakeerah Jacobs (Wits)
GROUP B
Tuks vs NWU
Tuks became the final side to book their semi-final ticket after beating NWU clearly in their final Group B fixture. Sinamile Mkhwanazi opened the scoring in the fourth minute already following a corner. In the 33rd minute, Wendy Shongwe made it 2-0 for Tuks after beating the NWU defenders to set up a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Tuks went into the break with a two-goal advantage but were not done for the day, Lethabo Ledwaba set up Wendy Shongwe for a brace in the 59th minute. Just three minutes later, Shongwe returned the favour and unselfishly put the ball on a platter for Ledwaba to score with a tap-in goal. The victory saw Tuks become the fourth side to book their semi-final ticket.
Result: Tuks 4-0 NWU
Scorers: 4’ 1-0 Sinamile Mkhwanazi, 33’ 2-0 Wendy Shongwe, 59’ 3-0 Wendy Shongwe, 62’ 4-0 Lethabo Ledwaba
FNB Player of the Match: Wendy Shongwe (Tuks)
UJ vs UL
UJ proved to be too strong for UL and made it three wins out of three games in the group stages on Thursday. The first UJ goal already came after two minutes when Ayesha Moosa scored following a nice combination play with Sphumelele Shamase. In just three minutes, the Ayesha Moosa and Sphumelele Shamase partnership paid off again, leading to a brace for Moosa after a long-range shot. In the 39th minute, Sphumelele Shamase got her fifth goal of the tournament after capitalising on a mistake from a UL defender. Late in the game, Lerato Lefa scored a brace in the 64th and 65th minute to round up the score and take UJ’s goals tally to 12 goals in three matches.
Result: UJ 5-0 UL
Scorers: 2’ 1-0 Ayesha Moosa, 5’ 2-0 Ayesha Moosa, 39’ 3-0 Sphumelele Shamase, 64’ 4-0 Lerato Lefa, 65’ 5-0 Lerato Lefa
FNB Player of the Match: Ayesha Moosa (UJ)
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