Woodlands United’s faithful fans were left disappointed as their side went down 2-1 against Fish Hoek’s Ubuntu Football Academy in an under-18 Coke Cup semi-final clash, at Westridge, on Sunday.
A reasonable crowd of a few hundred turned up at the Stephen Reagon sports complex to watch teams battle for a spot in this year’s finals.
Unlike the previous round when rain wreaked havoc across the city, resulting in a number of matches being called off, this past weekend’s weather played along nicely. If Sunday’s contests are anything to go by, soccer fans are in for a treat come cup final day in two weeks time.
Although the Woody Boys’ fairytale campaign came to an end, those who follow the team know this squad has what it takes to go all the way in any competition.
“It was a good run, very challenging in its own way,” said assistant coach Elric Claasen.
“In the round of 16 we had a good challenge in Harvest Academy, a game that ended 1-1 and went to penalties, our goalkeeper coming out top in that one, then we faced Vahalla a very different challenge to the teams we previously faced, that was such an exciting and nail biting game that ended 3-2 In our favour,” Elric said.
However, on Sunday, his side started off on the back foot, with Ubuntu capitalising on some errors to establish an early lead five minutes into the game.
Woodlands remained composed, sticking to a game plan as instructed to set up an equaliser, following an impressive build up 15 minutes in, finished off with a flash of finesse by Ethan Benjamin with Zahier Adams on the assist.
A lapse of concentration two minutes before the break saw their opponents grab the lead once more.
“Defensively, we could have brushed up a few details, maybe implemented a bit more on the attacking side, but we have so much to be proud of, the journey as a whole, the preparation, the unity, the fight and so much more, ” Claasen said.
“For us, it has been a roller-coaster of a season, this Coke Cup competition has a huge hype for a reason. It is what most of us amateur players and coaches fight for because we understand the importance of the competition as a whole. It has been a really good learning curve,” he said.
“Sure, we could have done better, but we will be back and we will be stepping up a notch… Thank you Woodlands FC as a whole and to everyone else supporting our vision and journe<” he said.
For now the team’s focus will shift to D&G Orient’s upcoming under-21 Green Smile tournament at the Johnson Road sports complex, Claasen said. “Unfortunately we are out of the Mitchell’s Plain LFA knock outs finals, so our season is officially over. We are now preparing for the under 21 tournament where most of these under 18s will play and also the Third Division where most of these under 18s have earned call ups into the squad,” he said.
