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BY Obakeng Maje

The weather gods played ball on Day Two of the SAB Under-21 Regional Championships with bright sunshine, but it rained goals at the Ingwenyama Conference and Sports Resort Grounds in Nelspruit which played host to eight matches.

Thirty (30) goals were scored on the day.

KwaZulu-Natal sparkled with their lovely inter-play, careful build up and skilful attack, while Limpopo dominated with strength bulldozing their way past opponents and displayed some good set-piece taking and the host Mpumalanga made the local fans proud. The three teams were the biggest contributors on the score sheet.

KZN’s Nkosingiphile Sondezi scored the tournament’s first hat-trick to move his tally to five after two matches to help his side beat Limpopo 3-1 and stake a strong claim in Group A where they are unbeaten. Mpumalanga thrashed North West 6-2 to remain the other province that has not lost a match. Jonathan Jarran, from the host team, scored the second hat-trick of the tournament when they defeated Group A’s whipping boys North West.

In Group B USSA are the only unbeaten side after their 1-0 win over Free State, with the goal coming from their marksman Nicolus Mynhardt. Gauteng bounced back from the disappointment of the first day to win both their matches on Day Two – 5-1 over Eastern Cape and 1-0 over Northern Cape.

The day ended in style as the players were officially welcomed with a gala dinner that had the country’s football legends John “Shoes” Moshoeu and Shakes Kungoane in attendance. They were also on hand to give young players some advice.

“Development is key in this country if we are to return to being one of the best in the world. At the moment things are not going very well in our football because we tend to take short cuts, now we need to dig deep and start from the bottom up not the other way round. If we don’t take care of our Under-21 and develop them in a good way then we will not go anywhere, and it is tournament’s like these that should play that important role,” said Moshoeu, who also serves as the tournament’s ambassador.

DAY TWO scores:

Eastern Cape  1 – 5 Gauteng

Free State  0 – 1 Northern Cape

Mpumalanga  6 – 2 North West

Limpopo 5 – 1 Western Cape

Free State 0 – 1 USSA

Gauteng 1 – 0 Northern Cape

Limpopo 1 – 3 KwaZulu-Natal

North West 4 – 0 Western Cape