TUT Matsatsantsa Ladies assistant coach Lebogang Radebe says they are on a mission to return to the glory days, and so far things are looking up, but they will take it one step at a time.
In the first season of the SAFA Women’s Football National League in 2019/2020, the Tshwane outfit finished in second place and repeated the feat the following year (2021) but dropped a spot to third in 2022.
Things changed the next two seasons, with the team struggling to even make the top eight, ending the 2023 and 2024 campaigns in lowly and disappointing 10th and 11th positions respectively.
“It’s different now, back then we had a ratio of 60/40 – non-students and students. Now it’s like 90% students so it’s always going to be a challenge for us. Back then we didn’t have a lot of students in our team, it was well balanced hence they could compete, now these days there are games during the week and on some days some students can’t make it due to study commitments. We are not there yet, we are still building to get there but we want to dominate the space again,” said Radebe.
The current season has seen the students make a serious attempt to recapture the glory days.
After 20 games, they have amassed 35 points – matching what they finished on last season. TUT Matsatsantsa have won 10 matches, drawn five and lost just as many.
Their main quest is to improve on the last the two seasons, but they are not feeling any pressure.
“I wouldn’t say we’re under pressure but what we want to achieve is to have a better position than where we were last season. The most important thing for us is to at least reach 40 to 50 points – currently we are on 35 and have 30 remaining to play for, so there’s no pressure. We just need to take it one game at a time, as you know we are an institution sometimes we will have the ladies available, sometimes not – we won’t always have the consistency that we so need,” added Radebe.
“Each and every game that we’ve played this season we changed at least two or three players in our lineup, and that destabilizes us, but we are grateful all the players that are there on the day are putting in the work, putting in the shift and you won’t realize when some are not there. That is a clear indication of healthy competition in the team – and we have reached our first objective for the season, which is to get to the 35-point mark that we achieved in 2024.”
Despite the good run they have had so far this season, Radebe was quick to dismiss talks of challenging for the title – at some point TUT was in second position for long periods before dropping down the ladder to the current position. Reigning champions Sundowns Ladies still lead the pack (41 points), followed by TS Galaxy Queens (37), with the University of Fort Hare (35) in third place and UJ Ladies (35) fourth.
“Slowly but surely, we still need more time, we are not there yet but if they sleep, we might cast our eye that direction (league title). For now, we just want at the very least to be in the top four or top three. Sundowns Ladies currently have three games in hand – we have played 20 and we are going to play them – if we beat them then perhaps we can talk about the title race, but for now our aim is to be in the top three or four, as we try to return to the glory days step by step, one game at a time,” said Radebe.
After a hard-fought 1-1 draw against JVW two weekends ago (17 August), the students lost the Varsity Derby just last weekend falling 4-2 to the University of Johannesburg in another tough contest. And it doesn’t ease up with a stubborn University of the Western Cape (UWC) coming up this weekend.
“Our upcoming games are difficult – after JVW we faced a strong UJ, now we are expecting another tough day in the office against UWC, then it’s out neighbours Tuks and a Durban Ladies fighting for survival with the University of Cape Town also in the mix. So, to the road ahead looks tough but each and every point that we collect is great because last season this time around we were still at the bottom but now already we have accumulated those points that we had last season – with 10 games remaining. I think it’s a good build up going forward for our girls,” concluded Radebe.
TUT Matsatsantsa Ladies and UWC meet on Saturday, 30 August at 3pm in Cape Town.
The rest of the fixtures:
By Matlhomola Morake
