Prestige U/13s to focus on league after early cup exit
The two teams went into the second half break with a lot to think about as their hopes of keeping their chances of progressing to the next stage alive, hung in the balance.
The young guns of locally based Prestige Football Development Academy have shifted their focus back to the league title after their recent exit from the Gauteng Development League (GDL) Cup.
Prestige U/13 hosted Randburg Football Club at Cecil Payne Stadium on July 30 for the GDL Cup group stages and unfortunately failed to make it to the last 16.
The GDL Cup comprises of 32 teams from all clubs in stream A and B. The tournament is based on the idea of giving both streams a chance to compete with each other for the cup.
Prestige went into the match determined to progress to the next stage as they were the more offensive of the two sides in the early stages of the match.
Before the half-hour mark their efforts were rewarded through a goal that came after a convoy of attacks and constant pestering of the visitor’s defence.
The two teams went into the second half break with a lot to think about as their hopes of keeping their chances of progressing to the next stage alive, hung in the balance.
The match ended 1–0 to Prestige but unfortunately that was not enough to secure a spot in the last 16 as a result of their previous opponents Platinum Stars being knocked out after the Florida outfit played a 1–1 away draw with them instead of collecting the maximum three points.
Prestige U/13 head coach Nhlanhlo Madlala said that since they played against a stream B team with higher intensity, against Randburg they needed to be more focused as they are a team with good structure and strong football mentality from the back to the front.
“We didn’t focus on the walkover that happened when we played against them away but we told ourselves that we can make it happen at home. We tried our best to play the way we train. On top of that we achieved three points from focusing. Above all I thank God for everything; the boys work hard to achieve something in each match they play. So, from now on we will be focusing on the league match away at Soshanguve against Bokomoso,” said Madlala.
