The University of the Free State’s (UFS) men’s team is bound to guard against complacency and improve their ability of scoring goals to win this year’s Varsity Football trophy.
The Kovsie lads are yet to win the trophy of this tournament, which features eight universities from across South Africa.
The closest the UFS team came to claiming the elusive title was in 2021, when they lost 0 – 4 to the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in the final.
They have started this year’s campaign with a bang, however, recording a 3 – 1 win over the North-West University (NWU) in an away outing on Thursday, 25 July.
The UFS boys were the biggest scorers when considering all matches played in the tournament’s first round on Thursday.
Inspired by the result, the team will be looking to continue this momentum when meeting the Durban University of Technology (DUT) in a fixture taking place at Shimla Park in Bloemfontein on Thursday. Kick-off is at 17:00.
Tebogo Motsamai, Kovsies coach, is hoping that his charges will remain resolute in the challenge to win the championship. He blames inconsistency for them underachieving in the past.
Another important fixture on the homefront will see the Central University of Technology (CUT), Free State, clash with the University of Pretoria (UP) at the CUT Stadium. Kick-off is at 18:30.
The host, led by Patrick Malokase as head coach, salvaged a point in the opening match when they played to a stalemate against the DUT.
The CUT men’s mission is to revive their fortunes in the competition. The highlight was in 2016 when they lost 1 – 2 to the UP in a final played in Bloemfontein.
The locals achieved this under former coach Teboho Ramakoa, who also guided them to gain promotion the third-tier division.
