Sinani United Football Academy’s (SUFC) U15s dominated in the Mpumalanga Junior Championships. After seven regional festivals throughout Mpumalanga in June, SUFC advanced to the Mpumalanga Provincial Championships at Witbank High School on Friday, September 27.
Twelve teams participated, two of the best from each region – eMalahleni, Mbombela, Nkomazi, Secunda, Ermelo and Middelburg. All the teams were placed in four groups and played a round-robin format, and the top two teams made it to the knockout stages.
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In the round-robin games, SUFC played against Mega Force, but both only managed to score one goal each, 1-1. In the second game, SUFC clashed with African Elite and won with 3-0. SUFC won in this group and went through to the quarter-finals as one of the last eight teams.
In the quarter-finals, SUFC played against Maninken, which was a challenging game. Both teams managed to score 1-1. They continued to penalties and SUFC won with 4-2.
When they reached the semi-finals, SUFC pulled up their socks and won playing against Klarinet Dortmund, 2-0. In the finals, SUFC clashed with another local Mbombela team, Future Stars, and dominated with 1-0.
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Cyril Morele, Sinani United Football Club’s head coach, said following this championship, they will now focus on the U17s. He said the championships in eMalahleni were the biggest competition they had for the U15 team. Merele said they will be preparing for the next season, while playing friendly games and slowly bringing the U15s to the U17 level.
Mpumalanga News
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