Rampant Sundowns dominate PSL awards
Resounding Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns were rightly dominant at the PSL awards held at Emperors Palace on Monday as they cleaned up the top accolades following a record-breaking season.
The annual event, which was the ninth of its kind, took place on May 30.
The Brazilians’ kingpin, Khama Billiat, a vital cog in the team’s famous front three attacking combination dubbed the CBD (Castro, Billiat and Dolly) including Keagan Dolly and Leonardo Castro, was the biggest winner as he scooped the prestigious Player of the Season award.
The 25-year-old Zimbabwean was also named the Players’ Player of the Season and the Midfielder of the Season, giving him total earnings of R450 000.
Coach of the Season honour was inevitably and deservedly won by Downs mentor Pitso Mosimane, who led the Pretoria outfit to a record seventh championship since the start of the PSL back in 1996, with two games to spare.
Mosimane also led his side to Telkom Knockout Cup glory, where Thabo Nthethe was named Player of the Tournament.
Nthethe was also named the PSL’s Defender of the Season while shot-stopping teammate Dennis Onyango grabbed the Goalkeeper of the Season award.
Sundowns made a mockery of Kaizer Chiefs’ record-breaking season from last year. The Brazilians concluded their league campaign with a whopping 71 points, which had never been previously achieved since the beginning of the PSL – two more than Chiefs, who finished with 69 last season.
Mosimane’s men also broke the record for the biggest points difference between the champions and the runners-up which was also set by Chiefs last year – as they finished 14 points clear of Bidvest Wits.
Chiefs, conversely, had finished 12 points ahead of Sundowns when they set the record last year.
Other winners:
PSL Top Goalscorer: Mpumalanga Black Aces striker Collins Mbesuma (14 goals); Young Player of the Season: Mpumalanga Black Aces’ Maphosa Modiba; Goal of the Season: Bidvest Wits’ Ben Motswari; Referee of the Season: Thando Ndzandzeka; Top Assistant award: Zakhele Siwela; National First Division Top Goalscorer: Boroka FC’s Thabiso Kutumela (18 goals); MTN8 Last Man Standing award posthumously went to late Ajax Cape Town defender Cecil Lolo who died in a car crash in October; Nedbank Cup Player and Young Player of the Tournament award went to SuperSport United’s Jeremy Brockie and Baroka FC’s Ndivhuwo Ravhuhali respectively. – @SabeloBoksburg
