14 May 2018 – Not many teams that are going to the ABC Motsepe National Play offs can claim to have dominated their provinces in the way that Buya Msuthu did in the North West.
And what is intriguing about Kabelo Sibiya’s team is that when the season started, the team only had nine players.
A total of 21 players were recruited as the team that had lost in last year’s National Play-offs went on an aggressive rebuilding process. The result was a total 80 points in the season that Sibiya describes as 30 cup finals.
“It was a difficult season. We reshuffled the team in a big way. We brought in 21 players. There were only nine players from the team that made the play-offs last year,” Sibiya said.
“What helped is that we brought in experienced players from the National First Division and some from the PSL. That helped us to win the league with 80 points. The points must not make it look like we had an easy season. We had 30 cup finals this year,” Buya Msuthu coach said.
As they gear up for the ABC Motsepe League National Play-offs that will be held at the University of Limpopo Sports Grounds in Turfloop from January 1-7, with the final taking place at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, Msuthu are confident of making it to the final.
The two teams that will make it to the final will be promoted to the National First Division, with the final winner taking home a cool R1 million. Sibiya is confident that Msuthu will be one of those two teams.
“We have advantage over the other teams in our group. Only us, The Dolphins and Maccabi FC are returning to the playing in the play-offs last year. We have the experience and a big chance to win it this year,” Sibiya said.
“The group is challenging. We had Dolphins last year and we beat them. They still have the same team. So it will not be hard. I have an idea of how Tornado plays because I used to coach in the Eastern Cape,” Sibiya said.