After campaigning in the Sasol League and missing out on the end-of-the season promotion play-offs for two years in a row (2021 and 2022), the ambitious Tim Sukazi, owner of TS Galaxy in the DSTV Premiership, decided to buy the status of Cape Town’s Vasco da Gama in the Hollywoodbets Super League.
By so doing, he became only the third PSL club to have a women’s team after Mamelodi Sundowns and Royal AM.
Sukazi raided several teams in the elite women’s league and assembled an array of stars – including from the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), JVW, Vasco da Gama and put together a solid team, that had, among others, the 2022 Top Goal scorer, Nompumelelo Nyandeni and Nomvula Kgoale who used to ply her trade in Spain.
Also lured into The Rockets’ nest was head coach Jabulile Baloyi who lasted only six games before parting ways with the Mpumalanga side despite a good start – six games played: two wins, three draws and one loss.
Enter former Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) mentor, Sizwe Sibiya – he took over from Baloyi in March.
Six matches into his tenure, Sibiya was officially announced by the Hollywoodbets Super League newcomers only this week.
The ex-Black Leopards and Alexandra United midfielder found himself in familiar territory at TS Galaxy as he was working again with his former players at TUT – the likes of Busisiwe Ndimeni, Nothando Vilakazi and Precious Seshweni.
Sibiya led TUT to third place last season in the elite women’s league, after being pipped to the second spot by the University of the Western Cape’s (UWC) Thinasonke Mbuli.
His first assignment was against Durban Ladies and he got off to a positive start, winning 1-0.
He never looked back.
To show the result was no fluke, what followed was a dominant 6-0 victory of Coal City Wizards.
Many started taking note when he led his charges to victory against the high riding UWC – beating them 2-1, and becoming the only coach this season to get maximum points from the Capetonians.
Subsequent wins over the University of Johannesburg (2-1), Thunderbirds Ladies (2-0) and more recently Richmond United (5-0) gave him and his side all 18 points on offer after his first six games at the helm.
In the process, TS Galaxy scored 18 goals, conceding two.
It is only their first season in South Africa’s Premier women’s football league, but the Mpumalanga side is currently third on the table with 27 points after 12 rounds of matches played:
| P12 | W8 | D3 | L1 | GF27 | GA8 | GD19 | Pts27 |
They trail second-placed Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies, who are the defending champions, by four points, and are six behind log leaders, UWC.
Also, along with the Brazilians and the Capetonians, they are the only three teams that have only lost once so far in the league
TS Galaxy Queens next face the struggling bottom-of-the-table Ma-Indies Ladies on Saturday (13 May) away at the Giyani Stadium in Limpopo – and if past results are anything to go by – for both sides – this could very well be another three points in the bag for Sibiya and company.
Kickoff is at 15h00.
CentreCircle.online caught up with Sibiya after their fixture against Richmond United:
Coach a convincing win, how would you summarise the match?
I said to them you need to raise your hand, the World Cup is coming, raise your hand and showcase your artistry. I mean, who best knows the artist in you than yourselves? Go and show people what you can do, what you can display on the field. I think that’s the most important thing. Over and above all, I want players to enjoy what they’re doing, once they start enjoying what they’re doing they’ll do it freely. I always tell them that you are free, but I also tell them that if I always say that you are free but you are not free to make mistakes just know that you are not free, so I’m giving you that license – if something doesn’t work the first time, do it again, and again, there’s one that’s going to come right.
The plan seemed to be spot on… denying them a chance to score
I said in one of the interviews that you need to take care their supply – once you take care of their supply, you will see that their wingers, their number 10, and the top striker will be nowhere to be found. But now after you take care of the supply what do you do – make them do what they are not comfortable in doing, don’t give them the ball, just deny them the opportunity to play. I’m happy with the girls, they put in a good shift.
The score line would suggest an easy victory, but it was really not the case…
It can never be a walkover against Richmond United, this is one of the toughest teams in the league. I was telling someone to go and check last season’s performance – first few matches they were always among the top five teams. They finished seventh in 2022 and 2021, that should tell you the coach there knows what they’re doing – and we’re talking about someone who’s 23 years into woman’s football, he knows what he’s doing. Some of these players that I have here come from his hands. So, this is a good man we need to appreciate such coaches.
Six games played, six won – how do you get it right?
The most important thing is to look at them and see human beings, that’s very important. Once you start seeing athletes, they are going to behave like they are machines – no, no, no, these are not machines, these are human beings first. Now you can understand how I manage them – Nicole (Michael) was in the camp (with Banyana Banyana), Nomvula too – I had to take them out because their bodies were struggling a bit. Now you need to manage these things. These are the things that we need to do, we need to check that how do I best manage them so that I’ve got 15 more matches with the same players.
SIZWE SIBIYA RECORD AT TS GALAXY TO DATE:
Played: 6
Won: 6
vs Durban Ladies 1-0
vs Coal City Wizards 6-0
vs UWC 2-1
vs UJ 2-1
vs Thunderbirds 2-0
vs Richmond 5-0
Lost: 0
Drew: 0
Goals For: 18
Goals Against: 2
Total points: 18
By Matlhomola Morake
