The University of the Free State Kovsies and the Central University of Technology will battle it out on Thursday evening in a Bloemfontein derby – the last round-robin match of the Varsity Football.
For Kovsies a win will be of the utmost importance and this gives them a chance of reaching the semi-finals for a third year in a row, while for CUT, they would want to sign off their campaign with a win – something that has not come their way this season.
For Kovsies to reach the last four, they will need more than just one favour. They will be banking on the University of Fort Hare to pull off an unlikely win against the North West University in Alice, while they will also need the Vaal University of Technology to beat the University of the Western Cape in Bellville.
The UFS captain, Aphiwe Zulu, told Bloemfontein Courant that it will certainly be a tough derby.
“CUT will be looking for their first win this season and on the other hand, we are looking for the three points to keep our chance alive of reaching the semifinals. In the camp the spirit is good and players are motivated by the big Bloemfontein derby.”
The ‘Amashangane’ skipper, Simo Ndlovu, in his turn said for them there will be a lot of pride at stake.
“We have nothing to lose and we are going to be playing for pride since it is a derby,” said the captain and defender Simo Ndlovu.
“There will of course be bragging rights up from grabs as well. We’ll be heading there with a mentality of winning, and it’s not about causing any injustice for Kovsies, as they are still in for a chance to reach the last four, but our pride is at stake.”
Thursday’s derby at Shimla Park will kick off at 19:15. – MORGAN PIEK
