Modderdam High won't go down without a fight

Modderdam High School’s boys’ under-19 soccer squad can consider itself unlucky, going down
1-0 against Plumstead High in last week’s Safa Cape Town Kay Motsepe regional finals at Bishop Lavis sports ground.

Arguably one of the biggest school competitions in the country, the tournament, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam, features more than 5000 high and primary schools competing in regional tournaments in the various provinces. Locally, the top schools in the  Western Cape Education Department (WCED) school districts in the Cape Metropole, including Metro Central, East, North, and South, qualified for a spot in the last round of 32 of the competition, which kicked off at the beginning of the month at various venues across the city.

Each district was represented by eight under-13 boys’and girls' primary schools and eight under-19 boys' high school squads, with the cream of the crop making it to last week’s regional finals.

The finals were contested by six schools from the different districts, with the winners qualifying for next week’s provincial championships in Beaufort West and a shot at collecting the R100 000 winners’ prize money in the primary schools division and R120 000 in the under-19 boys section.  Ultimately, it came down to Central versus South, Modderdam up against Plumstead.

In an evenly-matched contest at Bishop Lavis, Plumstead’s Keron Jacobs sealed the deal for his side with a header coming off a corner in the final minutes of the game.

Although disappointed with the result, Modderdam coach, Nuzhad “Skara” Pail, was quick to congratulate his opponents and has nothing but praise for his young players. As the score line would suggest, his charges did not go down without a fight, creating chances of their own. 

En route to last week’s finals, Modderdam beat Lavender Hill 5-3 on penalties after playing to a 2-all draw. In an equally tight semi-final, the boys from Bonteheuwel beat Strand’s  Zisukhanyo High 4-3 on penalties after playing to a 1-all draw.

“The road to the finals wasn't easy at all, I'll say we gave a good account of ourselves,” said Pail, a professional footballer from Heideveld, currently training with Cape Town Spurs under coach Nasief Morris. A well-travelled soccer journeyman, Pail is no stranger to big occasions, having had stints with various top-level sides, including Old Mutual Academy, Supersport United Academy, Milano United in the National First Division, Limpopo-based TTM FC, and Cape Umoya.

Pail, who divides his time playing as a soccer professional and coaching at the school, helped Northern Cape-based Kakemas Juventus FC to the national ABC Motsepe play-offs after winning the regional title in that province. He said coaching at Modderdam and helping to unearth the next generation of professional soccer players is his way of giving back to the community.

“I think the boys were fired up, especially in the first half. We were the better team but needed a goal to calm ourselves down,” he said.

“The game went 100 miles an hour, we were very unlucky for letting in a goal with two minutes left to play,” he said.

Plumstead coach Faeed Amardien agrees, saying: “It was electric from start to finish, nail-biting in the end. With a shaky start, the lads came up with a different approach in the second half and scored in the dying minutes of the game.”

In other action, defending girls under-13 champions, Gugulethu's Lwazi Primary School, thumped Grassy Park's Fairview Primary 13-1 in a one-sided affair. In the boys under-13 division, Delft South Primary beat Solomon Qatyana Primary, from the Strand, 1-0 in a tightly contested game.