Hlanti’s the big winner on awards night

At the tail-end of a turbulent season, it is perhaps not surprising that Bidvest Wits opted to have a small end-of-season function this week, where only four awards were handed out to their under-achieving squad.

The Clever Boys did lift the Telkom Knockout, but the reigning Absa Premiership champions were, until the penultimate game of the campaign, in serious danger of relegation to the National First Division.

Sifiso Hlanti (pictured) was the major winner at the Wits awards, picking up the Players’ Player-ofthe-Season and the Player-of-theSeason awards for his consistent performances at leftback.

“An evergreen presence in the team, a person who embodies everything we stand for as a club,” said club CEO Jose Ferreira, ac-

cording to the Wits official website.

Centreback Bongani Khumalo picked up the Coach’s Player-ofthe-Season award, while right back Reeve Frosler was named Young Player-of-the-Season.

Wits finally avoided relegation with a 3-2 win over AmaZulu on April 28, and could even now finish in the top eight, with their

final league match coming up tomorrow at already-relegated Platinum Stars.

The 10th-placed Clever Boys will finish in the top eight if they beat Platinum Stars, and two of Golden Arrows, Bloemfontein Celtic and Chippa United fail to win their respective matches. Wits will also finish in the top eight if they draw with Roger de Sa’s Dikwena, and both Chippa and Celtic lose.

Clinton Larsen’s Arrows are at Maritzburg United in their final game of the season, while Veselin Jelusic’s Celtic host champions Mamelodi Sundowns. Vladislav Herics’ Chippa are at Polokwane City, who are still in a relegation dogfight.

Wits coach Gavin Hunt will not be on the touchline for the game at Stars as he was sent off during the win over AmaZulu, with Paul Johnstone taking up the reins tomorrow.