Player, Coach and Goal of the Month awards presented, Shalulile reacts
The Player of the Month award was given to Peter Shalulile who has been a good friend of the net the whole season. ‘Shasha’ became the first player in the Premier Soccer League to score back-to-back hat-tricks when did that against Swallows and Golden Arrows.
Meanwhile, Eric Tinkler was announced as coach of the month. Cape Town City’s latest form means great leadership under the sophisticated former Pirates mentor. Their performance last month was enough to convince PSL to hand him the accolade.
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Keagan Dolly’s goal against Chippa United got enough votes from the fans to surpass all other nominees. The Kaizer Chiefs winger took to social media to thank the supporters that voted for him.
Shalulile who’s now on 22 goals so far this season gave some gratitude to his team while reacting to securing the award.
“To be honest, winning the DStv player of the month for April I would first like to give glory to God [because] he made it possible as well as my teammates and everyone at Sundowns,” Shalulile said.
“It’s a great feeling, it’s overwhelming to receive such an award because everyone put in the hard work, from the technical team to the players and the Mamelodi Sundowns family and fans. I am really happy to receive this award and I am hoping for many more to come.”
“In the month of April I managed to score two hat tricks back-to-back against Swallows and Arrows, and it was really an amazing feeling. I guess I will go down into the history of South African football,” he added.
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“To the Masandawana family, the fans and everyone who supports us I would like to thank them first and foremost for attending our games because they’ve come through for us and packed the stadium even during the difficult moments they stood with us and as we are about to go and lift the trophy, I would like to urge everyone to come and witness and enjoy the day with us.”
On the PSL statement, Tinkler received plaudits for the tremendous work he did with The Citizens in April.
“Judges were hugely impressed by Tinkler’s resilience and resolve in grinding out results following a difficult time of losing up to four key senior players in the January transfer window. The Cape side was also able to hold their own and avoided defeat against some of the top sides in the league in April,” the PSL said in a statement.
“Tinkler came out tops ahead of the Sundowns coaching duo Manqoba Mngqithi and Rhulani Mokwena as well as John Maduka of Royal AM, after votes from a panel of media and football experts. This was Tinkler’s fourth monthly award following his first back in 2017.”
City are second on the DStv Premiership table and stand a good chance to qualify for the next season’s CAF Champions League. That would be a cherry on top for Tinkler individually.
