Ajax Cape Town were crowned Premier Cup Champions for the fifth time after defeating a capable Pretoria side, Berea Albion, 5-4 on penalties. Five players from different teams give insight into their Bayhill experiences.
Brandon Petersen. I play for Ajax Cape Town and I’m a goalkeeper. The Bayhill was a great tournament and a great experience because it was my first time really playing in it. Last year I didn’t really play. One challenge I faced during the tournament was being able to play all the games in the tournament without having to worry about my body being tired because we played a lot of tough games. Another challenge I faced was trying to keep my game up for the whole duration of the tournament. For us, winning the tournament was a great achievement not only for the team but also for the club itself because we hadn’t won this tournament in a long time. For me winning this tournament is one of the highlights of my football career as I was one of the driving forces behind our team’s win. Our preparation for the Bayhill actually started last year around August as our Bayhill team is actually our whole Vodacom league team. We have been playing and training together for about 7 months so that was probably part of our preparation for the Bayhill. All I have to say to those participating next year is that as we all know that Bayhill is where legends are born and a lot of players, like Steven Pienaar, have played in the Bayhill so just go out there and give it your best.
Damian Basadien. I play for left wing for Santos. It was tough. It has always been tough but as a team we overcame most of our opponents. I had a groin injury and that was the challenge I had to overcome but I didn’t give up through the grace of God. My advice I would give is to work hard and give it your all. Give more than you have in you and the end result will be a success. Our team wasn’t well prepared. We only prepared a week before the tournament and never trained enough with each other, but we came as far as the semi final, which is a great achievement. Also, last year we reached the semi final. The Bayhill was a great success.
Stanton Weir. I’m the goalkeeper of Milano United. It was alright because we had a bad tournament as a team but ended up winning the plate final (knock out stages). We had lots of fans criticizing our team when we were down and we had to lift up our standard and we won the plate cup. [As advice] I would say work hard and Focus throughout the Tournament and remain humble from the beginning to the end. As a team we had lots of time to prepare .We started training a month before the Bayhill, which was February.
Tashreeq Fielies. I play centre back for Glendene United. Well, the Bayhill was interesting and exciting because of all the activities that took place. The challenges that we faced as a team this year were the difficult weather conditions due to the wind and also the teams that we played against. They were very strong physically, were together for longer and had a long time for preparation compared to our team. Well to those youngsters taking part in next year’s tournament, you must just stay mentally and physically strong because the tournament is long and the duration of games plays a key role on your fitness levels. Once you get through the group rounds the knockout rounds get even more intense because teams have the will power to want to fight and win the game knowing that they are just one step close to achieving victory. Of all the teams we had the shortest preparation because we were only notified about a week before the tournament kicked off so it was short but hard work for those of us who were fortunate enough to make the 18 man squad. I started preparing myself long ago already because I am playing in the Glendene Vodacom team so I worked hard knowing that I would find a team. So there you go, that sums up my Bay Hill experience.
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