BANYANA SEEK IMPROVEMENT

DESPITE thrashing Malawi by 6-0 in the last round robin match of the Cosafa Women’s Championships to qualify for the semi-finals, Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis is adamant there’s still a room of improvement.

Banyana kept their title defence alive as they won all their group matches, against Madagascar (2-1), Botswana (1-0) and Malawi.

“We didn’t start the tournament well in terms of the way we wanted to play,” Ellis said. “But we always knew we had a performance like this (against Malawi), hence we kept working in training. I am very happy with how we played but I always think there’s room for improvement.’’

After assembling her best squad for the tournament in Port Elizabeth, Ellis has given a chance to most of her players. She’s played all three goalkeepers, Roxanne Barker, Andile Dlamini and Kaylin Swart in the three matches.

However, it was the participation of US-based trio Janine van Wyk, Linda Motlhalo and Thembi Kgatlana that stole the show on Monday, 20-year-old Motlhalo bagging her first hat-trick in Banyana colours.

“When you come to a tournament with a squad and don’t play everyone, that doesn’t make sense,” Ellis said. “We want to play everyone so we can also see if the players can go one level up.”

The Malawi clash was historic in that Van Wyk became the first South African, man or woman, to reached 150 caps.

Banyana play invited participants Uganda in today’s semi-finals.