Bluebirds Ladies are savouring the team’s miracle survival of relegation from the Gauteng Sasol Women League.
The Birds achieved the survival feat by the skin of their teeth when the side pulled a great trick from the hat to win all the last three games of the league to consolidate their stay.
Though not expected, the Beautiful Birds of Alexandra managed to pull off three wins in a row to ensure they keep their status and remain in the League in the hope of completing a decade of trial and error in the Gauteng Sasol Women’s League since their maiden season in 2015.
In the Birds’ first history-making three wins in a row, the Alex outfit claimed the scalp of VUT Ladies in a 2–0 victory via the brace of astute goal poacher Anele Hlongwane.
After claiming the scalp of VUT, buoyed Birds went on to claim yet another scalp – this time of Kempton Park Ladies in a 4–1 drubbing with a brace each from old workhorse Vangile ‘Nyatama’ Mnguni and the evergreen Hlongwane.
The Birds then proceeded to round off their impressive victories with a 2–0 triumph over Soweto’s Diepkloof Ladies from a brace through the boot of team stalwart Thoko Mkosi.
Former Birds coach and founder of the Bluebirds Football Academy Malvin Khumalo, who quitted his coaching job to take the post of secretary general of the Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association, welcomed the ‘crucial, timely and miracle victories’ that saved the team from the dreaded chop.
Asked for lessons learnt from the near drop, Khumalo told Alex News the club management along with its technical staff will convene a meeting to evaluate the challenges they faced this season and how those could be avoided in the coming 2023 season.
“We finished with a stronger squad than in the beginning of the season, and the key is retaining that squad and spicing it up with some talented youngsters from our development structures. We mainly had youngsters only in the team who had never competed in the Sasol League before.”
Khumalo added some of their financial and transportation nightmares have been solved by the partnership the club has struck with reputational management company ForwardZone which also provides the kit, technical support, coach development and player management among other things.
Related Article:
