It could be said it was by a whisker or by the skin of their teeth it does not really matter, the record will show that last night playing at home Tuks has again qualified for the Varsity Football Tournament's semi-finals. 

When the final whistle blew the score was Tuks 1, Kovsies 0. One thing is for sure the game turned out to be a humdinger right up to the last 120 seconds. It was only then that Tuks managed to get that oh so important goal. 

During the last twenty minutes with the stadion clock relentlessly ticking down the seconds, the big question was how long the Kovsies defenders will be able to foil Tuks's attacks. Time and again it was just a desperate foot, head or other body parts that kept preventing the ball from hitting the back of the net. 

Then it happened. The Kovsies defence faltered. Their captain Gauta Mokati steered a shot from Tuks's Tobatsi Roets past his own goalkeeper ending his team's hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals. That is how cruel sport can be. 

The Tuks striker, Nhlanhla Mabaso, deservedly got the player of the match award. The fact that he did not score was certainly not due to a lack of trying. He was in the thick of things from the very first minute.

What made his performance remarkable is that he suffered a slight concussion during the second half, but deserting his teammates in their hour of need was never an option.

"I won't lie; it was not easy to continue playing. I was dizzy, at times, even nauseous. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that I was playing to help save Tuks's honour. I was literally prepared to sacrifice myself for the team." 

Mabaso had another reason why he was so motivated to play at his best. He and his teammates took to the field wearing white plaster bands around their wrists. It was an act of unity and sympathy for the brutal murders of University of Cape Town student Uyinene Mrwetyana and SA boxing champion Leighandre Jegels.

"Sport is an ideal way to unify people towards a common goal. The message we wanted to bring across is that there can never be any justification for violence against women and children. It has to stop."

A relieved Tlisane Motaung (Tuks head coach) said with about 20 minutes left to play, he was getting worried. 

"The plan was to 'kill' the game. It did not happen. I got the idea that Kovsies was playing for a draw as that would have qualified them for the semi-finals. So their main focus was on keeping the ball out. 

"During training, I explained to the guys if we don't score we need to become forceful meaning we have to send the big guys up front. In terms of height, the Kovsies is not the tallest. They were under pressure when having to contest for the ball against the likes of Chinedu Okolo."

Next Thursday at 16:00, Tuks is playing TUT in a home semi-final. The other semi-final will be contested between UWC and Northwest.