A cracker-jack goal early in the first half, followed by a cocky somersault by Ubuntu Football Academy captain, Luke Hendricks, to celebrate his opening and ultimately, the only goal, in his side’s 1-0 win against Cape Town Spurs, set the tone for a humdinger Bayview FC under-16 Youth Cup final, at the Strandfontein sports complex, on Sunday.
Ubuntu dominated the week-long competition, with seven games played, seven wins, 24 goals scored and zero goals conceded. Aptly named the Youth Cup, the 11th edition of the competition kicked off on Youth Day, Sunday June 16, with 72 teams from across the city and beyond taking to the field.
Cool, calm and collected, Hendricks slotted home the winner in the ninth minute from a set piece, as Spurs had conceded a free kick after a foul on live wire winger Ishaam Tilling, who caused headaches for defenders throughout the tournament.
His service from that free kick was on point, with Hendricks slipping behind the wall of defenders and finishing in two touches.
Drama unfolded towards the end of the first half when referee Siya Sodisa red-carded Tilling, forcing the Fish Hoek side to protect a fragile lead and hoping to score on the counter with one man short.
“The main thing was not to panic since we were one man down,” said coach Yannick Tabko Sop, who has been with Ubuntu for nine years and has seen his charges come through the ranks from a young age.
“The Bayview tournament is one of the competitions that we didn’t win for quite a long time and it was special for me to win with this incredible group of boys. I have coached some of them from age 11 and the ones who later joined our academy. It is a pleasure to see them grow and adapt to Ubuntu’s style of playing and values,” he said.
His Spurs counterpart, Andrew “Andy” Herman, Bayhill Premier Cup coach-of-the-tournament in 2023, had nothing but praise for the competition, despite the result not going their way. Like Sop, Herman has also spent the past few years working in the Spurs’ junior structures.
After getting their campaign off to a goalless draw against Ravensmead, Spurs eventually found their groove, beating Stanturf 4-1 and Lavender Hill 4-0 in the tournament’s group stage.
“As a club we always support this tournament as we know it gives our players an opportunity to play against teams from other LFA’s and help us as a team with developing our players. This I’m sure will be the same for other clubs,” he said.
Habitual cup finalists and winners of various junior tournaments, Spurs can be forgiven for thinking they’ve let this one slip through their fingers.
By all accounts, they played to their strengths, created chances of their own, but just could find the back of the net as Ubuntu did well to contain a relentless Spurs attack.
“We could see that most of their strategy was around their tall players, to play off the second ball as well as set pieces. After their dominance of the first few minutes, we started getting in the game more and our wide players did very well which then created more opportunities our way. We just didn’t take our chances which cost us the game and the title,” he said.
Spurs assistant coach Carlisle Kinnear concurs, saying: “Overall I think the competition was good, a lot of teams produced some good football. And that is what we want to see, the development of players. As much as it’s about winning you want to see players grow individually as well as a team. A lot of the kids these days compete against friends and they want to have that bragging rights and tournaments like the Bayview allows for this to happen,” he said.
Tournament director Mark Rodrigues said Spurs opening results in the early rounds of the competition, bear testimony to the hard work that is taking place at community clubs.
“The so-called smaller teams took on the bigger sides and what really stood out in the first round of the competition is how club like Ravensmead, for example, could keep Cape Town Spurs to a 0-0 draw. It really shows our coaches are working hard to make the gap smaller,” he said.
Spurs assistant coach Carlisle Kinnear concurs, saying: “Overall I think the competition was good, a lot of teams produced some good football. And that is what we want to see, the development of players. As much as it’s about winning you want to see players grow individually as well as a team. A lot of the kids these days compete against friends and they want to have that bragging rights and tournaments like the Bayview allows for this to happen,” he said.
