Curro Wilgeheuwel pushes Christ Church U14 soccer team toward ISSL exit

Despite Christ Church U14 soccer boys' best efforts, Curro Wilgeheuwel remained rampant.

August 3, 2022

Comfort Makhanya 1 minute read

Players jump to head the ball from the corner kick. Photo: Comfort Makhanya

Christ Church Preparatory School and College’s U14 boys failed to advance to the finals of the Independent Schools Soccer League (ISSL).

Second-half goals earned Curro Wilgeheuwel a 2–0 victory over Christ Church in a pulsating clash at Randburg Football Club on July 27.

Curro Wilgeheuwel (blue) knockout Christ Church U14 soccer team (red) in the semi-finals of the ISSL. Photo: Comfort Makhanya

Curro had the best chances in the opening stages, with Christ Church’s keeper Tevez Gengiah saving a goal attempt from Tumelo Moshugi before Njabulo Ndlovu missed a goalbound opportunity.

Christ Church nearly broke through just before half-time but Nqubeko Makhoba’s effort flew just over the crossbar.

Christ Church player (red) and Curro Wilgeheuwel player (blue) hustle to get to the ball. Photo: Comfort Makhanya

Moshugi scored the opening goal, finding the top-left corner of the net with a sublime, curling finish from outside the penalty area.

Although Tino Nyatsvimbo forced an excellent save from Curro’s goalkeeper, Moshugi continued to put pressure on Christ Church’s defence led by Luke Frost who made some challenging tackles to keep Christ Church in the game.

Curro Wilgeheuwel Tumelo Moshugi fix his socks before taking a corner. Photo: Comfort Makhanya

In the latter part of the second half, Moshugi and Ndlovu consolidated their partnership and were rewarded with a second goal thanks to Ndlovu’s cut-back, which forced Malo Rapetso into an own goal.

Although they were eliminated, Christ Church manager Molefi Ace Ntsoelengwe said the boys did extremely well to reach the semis.

Curro Wilgeheuwel coach Vuyo Mbanjwa says his boys need to work on finishing. Photo: Comfort Makhanya

“It is a lesson for the boys, they never reached this stage of the semi-finals before so we must give them a round of applause for their run,” Ntsoelengwe said.

Curro’s coach, Vuyo Mbanjwa, applauded his boys and said they played well for the whole game, but added that they could have been more clinical in finishing and exploiting their opponents. “We were quicker than Christ Church and that was our game plan from the start – to use our strength and speed to beat them in key areas to secure a win,” said Mbanjwa.

Mbanjwa believes his team could have scored more goals. They will return to the drawing board to analyse how they can score more goals against a tough opponent in the finals.