Triumphant Norkem team piles up awards
Every player in the squad of 17 got a run in the final and all played their part in getting the team to the cup
NORKEM Park High School justified its Waterstone College Sports Festival heroics as they dominated the tournament’s subsequent awards ceremony.
Forward Bafana Khumalo claimed the Golden Boot Trophy for his 12 goals in the tournament and was also awarded the Player of the Tournament prize. Teammate Siya Vilakazi won the defender of the tournament award for his no-nonsense showing, with the side’s two goalkeepers Thabang Mankga and Kabelo Kganakga, sharing the Golden Glove Award for best goalkeeper.
The duo only conceded two goals throughout the tournament.
The team started strong on day 1 with a good win against Glenvista High with a 3-0 triumph. They thrashed Kings School West Rand 5-0 and Grey College Bloemfontein B 7-0.
This set them up for a quarter-final clash with Sacred Heart College, whom they dispatched 4-1. Moving into the semi-finals, they met Reddam House who offered strong resistance to the flowing and attacking style of Norkem.
The one all score at half-time reflected the tight half. However, Norkem took the game away from their opponents in the second 45 as they scored four goals without reply for a thumping 5-1 final score.
Moving into the finals, the team was pitted against Tsogo Sun Soccer Academy, which is made up of players from different schools. Tsogo Sun defeated hosts Waterstone College 4-2 in the other semi-final and were favourites to take the cup.
However, Norkem went against the odds with their 4-0 battering of the Academy to win the tournament in style with goals from Bafana Khumalo, Baggio Senwamadi, Shadrack Mokoroane and a pile driver of a free-kick from captain Siya Vilikazi.
Every player in the squad of 17 got a run in the final and all played their part in getting the team to the cup.
National U/20 coach, Thabo Senong, was present during the knockout stages and was very impressed with the team and their style of play and will be adding some of the players to his national data base.
