All smiles as Blues win Premier League

In a campaign where the Blues enjoyed a long spell of rich form, they lost only one game, drew three and won 10, finishing with 33 points – five ahead of runners-up Birch Acres.

“We battled with player-availability at the best of times, but the commitment shown by the boys throughout the season carried us through,” said Blues coach Melvin Kruger.

“My assistant, Neo Mabitsela, has done a sterling job; the senior players and the team spirit also helped.”

Asked whether he’ll be coaching the side in their quest to make an impact in the Super League, next season, Kruger commented: “Yes, I will be there for the boys, just to get Boksburg back in the picture and to change negative reporting about the club. There have been far too many reports about the club losing matches instead of winning.

“I want to encourage young blood and build the club, and also the continuity.”

Sputla denied Kruger the opportunity of repeating his feat of winning the double, back in 2010, when they relegated the Blues in the quarter-final stage in this year’s cup competition.

“Sputla knocked us out of the quarter-final; we stood a good chance of winning the double, but it wasn’t to be. It was one of those games where we could’ve played the whole night, but we still wouldn’t have won that match.

“We hit the post multiple times and the ball just wouldn’t go into the net. But that’s football, you lose some and win some, you have to take it as it comes.”

Blues skipper, Mpho Masemola, echoed his coach’s sentiments.

“We were committed: we turned out for training 95 per cent of the time; the core of the team remained the same and that really helped us.

“The achievement (winning the league) is incredible, but also not unexpected, because we put in the work. There’s still room for improvement, however.

“The season was very exciting; most of us hadn’t played football for a while before the beginning of the season. We met some stiff competition along the way, but the boys did their part and we had a lot of fun.

“That’s what we had set out to do: to have fun, and we did, more so because we were winning.

“Coach Melv is incredible, that’s a very incredible man. He trusted us, you could feel trust. He’s very clear in his ways – he’s a very amazing guy.”

The duo also shared their views on their promotion to the Super League.

“We’ll be competitive,” declared Kruger.

“We’ll be looking for a top 10 finish; we definitely won’t be in the bottom three.”

“We’re looking forward to the challenge,” added Masemola.

“You can only get better by playing experienced teams. We’re going to be the underdogs and we’re looking forward to gaining the experience. We’re also look forward to shocking our opponents because they don’t know us,” said the forward. – @SabeloBoksburg