Goals, goals and more goals were scored as 31 soccer teams filled fields during a friendly football fest at the Old Parktonian Sports Club.
Old Parks Soccer Club hosted the U9 Festival Day on 27 August to raise funds for its junior soccer section, and clubs from all over the province showed their support, ensuring all the U9 soccer skill Gauteng had, was on display. And although the results were not tallied, the matches were certainly competitive.
After Old Parks lost to the Wanderers Warriors 2–0, coach Justin Bitter had a stern talk with the boys, and they put on an impressive performance in their next match, against the Randburg Football Club. The match was a nail-biter, as the Randburg rivals wrestled for possession and territory, with intent to win it all.
Old Parks opened with a brilliant long-range goal, worthy of international TV. But Randburg came back with fervour and eventually equalised through a good team goal. Yet, right after this, while the Randburg youngsters were probably still reliving the goal in their minds, Old Parks countered quickly, rushed players upfield, and, through good passing at the front, created a winner. The final score was 2–1 to Old Parks.
“The boys played very well, our defence was good and we took our chances,” Bitter said afterwards, adding that the festival was well organised and all the children had fun. Randburg coach, Dawood Davids agreed that the festival was a success and everyone had fun. “The one thing we can learn from the loss against Old Parks is to slow the game down,” he said. “We should not always be in a hurry to win.”
It is believed about R14 000 was raised on the day.
Details: Old Parktonian Sports Club, 011 789 3274/5.