City’s Manyama is the toast of the town

JOHANNESBURG: As many predicted, Cape Town City captain and striker Lebogang Manyama last night walked away with the biggest individual accolade at the PSL Awards when he was crowned the 201617 Footballer of the Season.

Boasting an impressive 29 (out of 30) PSL matches played for City, who were surprise title contenders and finished in third place behind winners Wits and runners-up Mamelodi Sundowns, Manyama scored 13 goals and also claimed the Golden Boot.

Although the competition was stiff – defender Thulani Hlatshwayo of Wits and the Brazilians’ strongman, Hlompho Kekana, were nominated alongside the Bafana forward – it would have been a shock had Manyama not won the biggest prize on the night having been a star performer to help City, not only finish in the top three, but also win the Telkom Knockout in December.

Manyama’s peers also felt he’d had an unbelievable year and voted him the Players’ Player of the Season, meaning he’d won in each category he was nominated in, with the exception of the Telkom Knockout. In that category, his teammate Aubrey Ngoma, also the winner of the PSL Midfielder of the Season, received the award for Player of the Tournament.

A team that enjoyed a night just as memorable, were champions Wits, whose coach Gavin Hunt was voted the Coach of the Season for helping the Clever Boys end an almost century-long drought by winning their first-ever championship.

With that achievement, Hunt also joined an elite club of coaches who have won the league four times in the PSL, alongside Gordon Igesund and the late Ted Dumitru. It was also the fifth time Hunt, who turns 53 today, accepted the Coach of the Season award in the PSL era.

Adding to the individual awards at Wits were goalkeeper Darren Keet and captain Hlatshwayo for the Goalkeeper and Defender of the Season gongs, respectively. And, perhaps controversially so, young Phakamani Mahlambi walked away with the Young Player of the Season award, even though there has been a public outcry that he perhaps did not do enough to warrant him being nominated in the first place.

Keet and Hlatshwayo, however, were the mainstay of the Wits team. They were not necessarily ever present, Keet managing 10 clean sheets in 22 matches, while “Tyson” featured in 24 league matches and scored three crucial goals.

Keet was nominated alongside Denis Onyango and ShuAib Walters, while Hlatshwayo went up against Sifiso Hlanti and Ramahlwe Mphahlele.