North-West University (NWU) Eagles captain Tshepiso Mahlangu did his team and supporters proud when he secured the winning goal in the fourth round of the Varsity Football tournament during the last minutes of a thriller of a game against the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).

The NWU Eagles’ first goal of the game was scored by a header from Thabang Majoro in the fourth minute of the game.

Heading into the second half, it was clear the boys had every intention to park the proverbial bus, and only in the 73rd minute of the game did the challengers equalize with a brilliant effort from UKZN’s jersey number 17, Malusi Mavundla. However, the mental fortitude of the NWU Eagles remained unfased, and in the 85th minute of the game, Tshepiso sealed the deal with the deciding goal.

This win puts the NWU Eagles top of the Varsity Football log with nine points from four games.

NWU coach Karabo Masehela says he is happy with the results, but the boys didn’t play according to plan.

“It’s a lesson learned again, and going forward we will work at it.”

NWU captain Tshepiso says it was a hard-fought win for the university.

“Last week we lost against the University of Pretoria on the last touch of the game, and I think we’ve learned our lesson.

“Facing defending champions the University of Johannesburg in the next game on their home turf won’t be easy for us, but we are taking it one game at a time and we will see where this takes us,” says Tshepiso.

Final score: NWU 2 - UKZN 1

Scorers:

NWU: Thabang Majoro and Tshepiso Mahlangu

UKZN: Malusi Mavundla

Man of the Match:

Banele Ntuli, UKZN

 NWU captain Tshepiso Mahlangu’s header secured a win for the NWU Eagles.