3 August 2019 — Western Cape coach, Julian Marlow, has already worked out a plan on how his side is going to come out victorious against Gauteng into today’s SAFA/SAB U21 League National Championship final.
And that is to thwart every attacking play the Gauteng side might try to weave past them going into the final third in search for goals.
This match will kick-off at 15h00 at the North West University in Mahikeng.
In their Group A matches, the Western Cape finished second to Gauteng who scored a total of six goals, as compared to the four goals the Western Cape managed to produce.
Marlow, though, believes that his side has since picked up momentum in in front of goal, following a 4-3 win the produced against Mpumalanga in the semi-finals.
“Gauteng is a very strong side,” Marlow said. “They have played in the 4-4-2 formation in their previous matches with two very strong centre-backs and a very quick attacking midfield.
“Their attacking third is very good as well, however, we know just how to deal with them.
Our solid defence has won us most of our matches and we intend to be very solid in this tie as well.”
The good news for Gauteng, though,is that the Western Cape have shown lapses of concentration in their semi-final fixture against Mpumalanga, where they had to hold on for dear life up to walk away with that 4-3 win.
Gauteng coach Bongani Maseko and his charges will be looking to exploit those marginal errors in defence in order to increase their chances of clinching this title.
In the other match, the hosting province (North West) will take on Mpumalanga for a 3rd/4th place finish of this year’s tournament at the very same venue.
The last time these two sides played against each other was in their last Group A fixture fixture, where they played to a 0-0 draw.
This clash also promises to be an enthralling fixture, as North West will fight tooth and nail to produce a positive result in front of their home crowd.
Mpumalanga coach Silver Gumede also vowed that his side will not head back to their home province empty handed.