After losing two consecutive games in away matches, Torit Women Football Club beat Aweil 2-0, raising their hopes in the ongoing South Sudan Women League.
On 27 February, Torit women football stars suffered at the hands of Yei after they were beaten 1-0 in an away match.
On 6 March, Juba women trounced Torit women stars 4-0, diminishing their chances in the league.
Awadalla Juma, the coach of the Torit women team, expressed joy but admitted that the consecutive matches they lost were due to challenges caused by fear of the players and the new environment they were in.
“Today (Saturday) we played a nice game with our sisters in Aweil and thank God the game ended in our favor. We beat Aweil 2-0. It was our best game. Indeed there were challenges, there were some players with injuries but we won the game. My appreciation to the communities in Torit, Eastern Equatoria State, for standing with us,” Coach Juma said.
He added that they lost in Juba due to the hot climate which weakened his players.
Juma recognized Aweil for displaying better football and wished them the best in the remaining matches.
Moses Zacharia Ngor, the head coach of Aweil Women Football Club, said the game was fair but intimated that his team needs to work hard for the next game.
“The game goes two ways. If we don’t win this game, we will work hard to win the next match. At times, you lose when there are challenges like issues of defense and if not corrected you will continue to lose,” Ngor said. “You have to practice hard to play well. Here I didn’t get any challenges, everything is in place. We also got our fans here. They welcomed us very well and we will.”
The soccer coach congratulated the opponents upon their win and encouraged them to practice hard to win the trophy.
On 20 March, Bentiu Women Football Club will visit Torit to face off with their counterparts there.
Esther Kiden Kute, a Torit player said, “We were confident that we would win the game that we played today (Saturday). A game is a game and can change. So, if you lose the other game you will rethink and focus to win in the next game.”
Kiden revealed that her team had some misunderstandings that led to their loss in the last two away games.
“In fact, during our game with Yei, we had misunderstandings amongst ourselves before the game. We lacked positioning, coordination and we even could not give accurate passes. Then the same thing that happened to us in Yei, we did not correct it in Juba, that is why our administration came to realize and they trained us and we corrected our mistakes. We have improved now and we can cooperate,” she said.
Sonia Amama, the Torit captain, said her team lacked some sports gear coupled with managerial issues that frustrates some players.
“We have resolved the problems that we had in Yei and Juba. We complained that we did not have soccer boots, they only bought us five of them when we went to Yei. When we asked them for more, they were annoyed and said that there is no money,” Torit captain Amama said.