Although nothing came of that , the Urban Warriors had to settle for second best.
Ismail, Lakay and Hendricks all agreed it meant a lot to come back home and win the tournament. Hendricks, from Tafelsig, said the fact that this was his first time taking part in the competition made the victory even more special for him.
“I can’t describe the feeling but I can tell you that we came here with a plan, that plan was to win the competition and that’s what we did. It was not easy but the guys fought for each other throughout the competition,” he said.
“That’s one of the most important things I’ve learnt here at Supersport, that the team is more important than any player. We have to work together for the benefit of the team and that’s what we did in this competition,” said the former Silver Spurs winger.
Ismail and Lakay, veterans in this competition having been there before, agreed. Ismail, a former South African under-17 international, represented the country in last year’s Fifa under-17 World Cup in Chile. He also played for Hellenic in the 2015 edition of the Premier Cup. He said their side had to keep their cool under pressure to win this year’s competition.
“The coaches told us to go there and give it our best and we were able to do that. The final was tough as Ajax strikers came hard at us but we were able to hold our nerve,” he said.
Lakay’s last outing in the Premier Cup was when he played for Santos Academy in 2014.
Captaining the People’s Team, he was instrumental in his side’s inspired run in that year’s Premier Cup. He almost single-handedly took his side to the quarter finals before losing to eventual champions Ajax Cape Town 5-4 on penalties.
He said finally winning the competition was special.
“The team played well throughout the competition and teamwork pulled us through difficult situations,” he said.
