Banyana youngsters can be proud of themselves after Lesotho win – Ellis

Photo Credit - Banyana Banyana.

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has singled out youngsters in the team for a superb display in their 2-0 friendly win against Lesotho at the UJ Soweto Campus on Tuesday.

During the second friendly, Ellis’ youthful charges picked up where they left off on Saturday – having beaten the visitors 1-0 in the first international friend at the same venue – and raced to an early lead after Sibongile Ntoane opened the scoring in the fourth minute.

The South African senior women’s national team could have scored more goals as they continued to raid visiting goalkeeper Reitumetse Tuoane’s goal area. They were eventually rewarded when Unathi Simayile increased the lead just before the half-time break.

“We can take our hats off for these young girls. It's not easy for them, so early playing two top-level games like these. You could see a lot of tired legs towards the end of the second game but we're happy with the growth and progress this week,” Ellis told Sowetan.

“I also want to thank the fans for coming out and embracing this new group of players. It will take a while for them to reach the top level but there were moments that looked good but there are other moments where we could have done better.

“It's a young group of players...the enthusiasm is there, the commitment is there. There's huge potential but it will take more than one camp to take them to the next level. They can be proud of themselves.”

The team will assemble again in March as Ellis continues to prepare the African champions for the defence of their title at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco in July.