The North-West University Football Club (NWU FC) continued their encouraging run in the Motsepe Foundation Championship with a convincing 3-1 victory over Highbury FC at the Fanie du Toit Sports Ground in Potchefstroom this weekend. The victory further underlined the growing confidence and consistency of the team as the players begin to find their rhythm in the second-tier football competition in South Africa.
NWU FC went into the encounter determined to build on their recent performances after playing to a 2-2 draw against Real Native FC in an away fixture in Mpumalanga last week. The NWU side had taken a commanding 2-0 lead before conceding a late equaliser in the dying minutes of the match.
Back on home soil, the Purple Army delivered a determined performance, showing attacking intent and composure to secure all three points. NWU FC opened the scoring in the 42nd minute through Sanele Bixa, who gave the home side a deserved lead heading into the half-time break. After the interval, the hosts continued where they had left off, with Oupa Maehetja extending the advantage in the 61st minute to make it 2-0.
However, Highbury FC refused to go down without a fight and pulled one goal back in the 82nd minute, briefly raising the pressure on the home side. The visitors' task then became even more difficult after one of their players received a red card, reducing them to 10 men.
NWU FC took advantage of the situation, with substitute Reatlegile Kgosithebe converting a penalty to seal the 3-1 victory and ensure that the three points remained in Potchefstroom.
Head coach Nkululeko Malgas praised his players for their performance and said the team was beginning to find its rhythm. He explained that the approach of the technical team was to exploit the pace of the players to trouble the opposition.
“Our plan was to use a lot of speed, and I am happy with how the boys executed the game plan. We have managed to collect 11 points from our last five matches, which is encouraging. However, in the next block of five matches after the FIFA break, we need to do even better than we did in this previous period,” said coach Malgas.
He said the ambition of the team was to accumulate approximately 25 points after 15 matches, which would put them in a more comfortable position on the league table.
“Our target is to reach around 25 points after 15 matches, which would put us in a comfortable position in the league. We are already looking forward to our next encounter against the Bees, followed by the North West derby against Orbit College FC,” he added.
Malgas also made it clear that establishing Fanie du Toit Sports Ground as a difficult venue for visiting teams was one of the key objectives of the club.
“We want to turn Fanie du Toit into our slaughterhouse and make winning at home a habit. Our objective is to ensure that teams coming to Potchefstroom know that taking points away from us will not be easy,” he said.
The victory reflects the progress NWU FC has made in recent weeks, with the team showing greater confidence, attacking purpose and determination to compete at this level.
With the FIFA break providing an opportunity to regroup and prepare for the next phase of the campaign, Malgas and his charges will be looking to maintain their momentum and build on improving their performances.
NWU FC continued their encouraging run in the Motsepe Foundation Championship with a convincing 3-1 victory over Highbury FC.
