The shot-stopper and his teammates played to a 1-1 draw against Spine Road High in their final group game, on Tuesday afternoon – at the 12th edition of the tournament.
And, they followed that up with a 3-1 win against Lentegeur High School in their last-16 match of the winners’ section.
A Grade 11 pupil, Du Plessis has an abundance of goalkeeping experience under his gloves.
He stood in goal for the Chukker Road-based side, Glendene, in their inspiring under-19 Premier Cup final, in 2014; and won the high school’s league in that same year.
Tafelsig High were drawn into Group A – alongside Rocklands, Spine Road and Maitland high schools.
Ahead of their last group match, Spine Road High were in the lead with six points after they beat Maitland and Rocklands 2-0 and 1-0, respectively.
Tafelsig trailed Spine Road by two points, followed by Maitland and Rocklands.
“We enjoy playing an attacking style of soccer.
“We started off great against Rocklands High in our first game but just couldn’t put the ball into the back of the net and had to settle for the draw,” said Du Plessis.
“Our team found their rhythm in the second game against Maitland.
“We created even more goal scoring chances in this and got the win in the final minute of the game.
“Maitland took the lead in the second half but we equilised 10 minutes later before getting our second goal.
“We knew Spine Road was going to be a tough game because they are very dangerous in front of goal.
“They know how to take their chances but we went into the game confident because we beat them 5-0 in a league game at the start of the season,” he said.
At last year’s competition, Tafelsig fumbled out in the group stage and lost in the semi-final of the Plate section to Cloetesville High – who also won the school’s league trophy.
Du Plessis has his hands full this season.
When he is not guarding the goal for his school, then he’s on a mission to help his club, Glendene United achieve their goals for the season.
“I play in the men’s senior team and we are currently third on the log in the Super League, at the Cape District Football Association (CDFA).
“We finished second last season and are currently chasing Greenwood Athletic who are on top.
“Both our senior and under-18 sides are through to the last-16 of the Coke Cup, so we have one eye on that as well,” said Du Plessis.
“The past two seasons have been really great for me because I’ve been playing my best soccer.
Playing in the final of the under-19 Premier Cup and beating JL Zwane 1-0 to lift the trophy has been my biggest achievement so far.
“I was only 16 years old at the time and it was my first time playing in the tournament.
“That year I also made the SASFA (South African School’s Football Association) Western Cape team and won the regional tournament with them.
“Since then, I feel that I’ve grown a lot and am more confident going into big tournaments like the Coke Cup and the High School’s tournament,” he said.
