A fiery affair played out in Bloemfontein on Thursday night. UWC made the journey to the City of Roses, to face newcomers CUT.
 

The pressure was on the home side from early on, as the visitors pelted Motlalentwa Mbolekwa’s goal. UWC’s early efforts were in vain though CUT’s Pule Thekiso scored his side’s first goal in the 2023 Varsity Football tournament. The goal separated the sides going into halftime, much to the crowd’s delight.

The second half started just as the match did, with sustained UWC pressure, combined with often questionable defence from their opponents. Riyaaz Koopstadt - a former professional with Ajax Cape Town - used this to great advantage to score the equalising goal early in the second half.

Both sides had their opportunities to claim the win, as the final 10 minutes of the match became a back-and-forth affair. There were no further changes to the score line however and the teams had to settle for a point each from the encounter.

MATCH FACTS

Thursday, 27 July 2023
At CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
CUT (1) 1 (Pule Thekiso 38)
UWC (0) 1 (Riyaaz Koopstadt 54)
Player of the Match: Riyaaz Koopstadt (UWC)
UWC Starting XI: Leathan Croats, Craig Joemath, Damian Overmeyer, Jadan Zeeman, Siyabulela Mcimeli, Sandile Nomjila, Relebohile Matima, Riyaaz Koopstadt, Devon Nolan, Leandro De Sousa, Khanya Alex Dyani.
Head coach: Dr Lwando Mdleleni

Match summary by Karina van den Heever/ Varsity Sports and images by Hannes Naude/Varsity Sports.