SEDGEFIELD FOOTBALL NEWS - Having claimed the KLFA Domestic League title when the competition was ended earlier this month, Sedgefield side Smuts United just missed making it through to the Safa Eden SAB Regional League playoffs.
Smuts United only found out on 2 November that they were named the champions of the league, with the Knysna Local Football Association (KLFA) deciding to end the 2019/2020 season.
This meant the position the teams found themselves in when the league was called would be their final one, and that Smuts United had officially won their first KLFA Domestic League title.
Given less than three weeks to prepare for the playoffs, they knew they had a tough task at hand, and they did not want to be found wanting. Prior to the playoffs, Smuts' captain Ashley Melite said that they were making good progress, and were looking forward to what lay in wait for them in their first-ever SAB Regional League playoffs.
They would have to travel to the Bridgton Sport Grounds in Oudtshoorn for their games, which were played from Friday to Sunday, 20 to 22 November.
They faced off with Junior Golden Stars on the Friday, narrowly going down 3-2 in a tough weekend opener. Their next game came on Saturday, and was yet another high-scoring affair as they drew 3-3 with Benfica. Sunday would be a tough day for the men from Smutsville as they had a double-header in waiting.
In their first game they lost 2-1 to Burning Fire, but bounced back strongly to end the weekend on a high with a resounding 6-3 victory over Black Eagles.
Despite a few gutsy performances, though, they did not earn enough points from their games to make it through.
Melite put their struggles down to the lack of time to prepare, as well as the large gap the club had between their last competitive fixture and the playoffs.
"There wasn't really enough time to prepare, we couldn't organise a practice match beforehand, and that was a big factor," he said. "We were unable to perform the way we did in the league because our players haven't played together in months, so their communication was off this weekend, and we had a few senior players out with injury too."
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