Grit, determination and a bad draw.

Bruinou Coupe entered their first tournament on Saturday 1st April since establishment. Management and players alike fancied their chances to achieve some good results and as an opportunity to tweak some areas in the off-season before the new season begins on Saturday, the 29th of April. 

Plying their trade as Senegal in the quarterly world cup tournament in Randburg, they found themselves pitted against the muscle of Italy in Group 4, a well known team in these circles who have met with great success in past tournaments and losing in the final in several. Needless to say, Bruinou Coupe were soundly thrashed 3-0 in this encounter despite a handful of golden opportunities to get on the score sheet. This left Bruinou Coupe with some serious work to do in their next 2 games if they were to progress to the next round. Their next group match was against Cameroon and Bruinou Coupe looked alive in this game. After re-organising themselves their goal wasn’t really threatened and the goalkeeper (Wayne) was brought out of his reverie to exact an excellent double save, to maintain his clean sheet. Either side of this Bruinou Coupe hit the crossbar and extracted some good saves and last ditch tackles from the opposition. Sadly the game was heading for an eventful but undeserved draw and early elimination from the tournament when another last ditch tackle resulted in a free kick. In the dying seconds of the game the free kick was played wide by Norman and calmly slotted home by Kurt to give Bruinou Coupe their much needed and much deserved victory.

The final group game needed Bruinou Coupe to once again secure all three points against Germany. Germany pounced early and scored 2 early goals before Bruinou Coupe realised they were in a match. Guts and sheer determination played an important role as Bruinou Coupe regrouped to firstly, lock out the opposition who now felt that this was going to be an easy romp in the park, and secondly, get back into the game. Locking out the opposition was done effectively by Waldo, Jeremy, Jaques and Norman. Bruinou Coupe showed their true class going forward as they plied pressure to the opposition goals with Rashaad, Bjorn, Dino and Kurt running well.  Zane M. managed to put away 2 goals before a correct and uncontested penalty decision went the way of Bruinou Coupe and Norman stepped up to put the ball beyond the keeper and take the lead for the first time in the match. A defensive clearance by Bruinou Coupe hit one of their own players on the arm who was trying to get the referees attention at the time. The resulting penalty against Bruinou Coupe was felt to be a harsh one but justice prevailed as second choice keeper Leon saved to his right to keep the score board in favour of Bruinou Coupe.

Bruinou Coupe progressed through to the next round and had to wait for the completion of all 8 groups before finding out who their 2nd round opponents were going to be. As luck of the draw would have it, or rather, bad luck of the draw, Bruinou Coupe found themselves facing Italy for the second time and gave a good account of themselves before succumbing to 2 goals late in the game from the well oiled team. This signalled the end of Bruinou Coupe’s participation in the tournament but smiles all round for a good performance, which is expected to be eclipsed in the future.

Bruinou FC is currently undergoing a restructure and is in the process for looking for new players. Please give Lester a call on 082 885 5237 if you are interested in playing next season. Only players who are 110% committed need respond.