Wits play through pain to beat UCT
FNB Wits had more than just FNB Varsity Cup points and log positions on the mind when they faced FNB UCT Ikey Tigers on Monday.
The match, in front of their home crowd in Johannesburg, got underway after a moment of silence following the deaths last week of former Wits Young Guns player Hendrik Wehmeyer and Christine Osborne, girlfriend of Wits wing Daniel Kasende.
With Kasende choosing to play, to honour Osborne, the match was filled with emotion and arguably carried Wits to their third straight win over UCT, 30-29.
Kasende, who failed to score but not for a lack of hard-running and determination to do so, was presented with the FNB Player That Rocks award and delivered an emotional television interview talking about ‘the love of my life’.
“She passed away last week Wednesday… my beautiful girlfriend… and I played my heart out for her. I know she’s looking down and she’s so happy with me,” Kasende said through tears.
Kasende paid tribute to his inspirational captain, Constant Beckerling, for his support through the trying days leading up to Monday’s Round 7 fixture.
“Listen, I wouldn’t be at Wits playing the way I play without [Beckerling]. Yesterday we came together as a team and this man cried in front of all of us and just asked that we serve Wits, serve everyone who supports us and my baby was one of them… I’m just so glad we could do it for them,” Kasende concluded.
Beckerling himself summed up what it required from Wits to get themselves in the right frame of mind for the match.
“Sometimes you just have to go back to why you play the game; for the love of it, the friends, the brotherhood and we have a lot of friends and family that support us and love us,” Beckerling said.
“Just because this isn’t a great season doesn’t mean this isn’t a great team and we showed it… we love Wits, we love the blues and we’ll build on this,” Bickering added before hugging his bereaved teammate.
Monday’s win lifts Wits to seventh place on 11 points, just two less than Ikey Tigers. Both teams have two matches left this season, but their playoff chances are slim to none.
