Tzaneen United’s dream of reaching Nedbank last 32 was crushed by City Motors last Saturday.
By: Refilwe Sebola
Tzaneen United’s dream of reaching the last 32 of the Nedbank Cup this season was made to drown with a 2-1 defeat in the hands of Ngwaabe City Motors at Malamulele Stadium last Saturday.
“Lebapola” as the charismatic Tzaneen based side is famously known, came in to the game full of confidence following their 6-1 drubbing of PJ Stars in their previous game. They opened the scoring very early in the first half giving hope of success to their always faithful supporters, however it was not to be.
Their early lead seemed to have worked against them psychologically as they started focusing on not conceding a goal than on increasing their lead. Their opponents, City Motors who were playing in a 3/5/2 formation played more on the front foot and dominated the midfield numerically.
The Rodney Thobejane coached side created scoring opportunities and finally found the equalizer towards the end of the first half forcing the game to go to recess in a 1-1 score. Coach Peace Khosa’s side came back to the second half guns blazing looking to restore their lead but their attack was thwarted by a very stable City Motors defense.
City Motors who were looking dangerous in attack finally scored their winning goal via a penalty kick after they were controversially awarded a penalty decision which was disapproved by the neutral crowd.
A Tzaneen central defender had cleanly tackled the ball away from the City Motors striker but was shocked when the referee pointed to the penalty spot even when his assistant who had a clear view of the incident flagged for a corner-kick.
A very disciplined Tzaneen side who chose to focus on playing the game instead of remonstrating started playing their best football thereafter. They completely took control of the game being supported by two third of the crowd but failed to convert clear scoring opportunities.
 Meanwhile, favorites Mpheni Defenders were also eliminated from the this season’s Nedbank Cup following a 2-0 defeat in the hands of Madritas who eventually emerged as the ABC Motsepe league Nedbank Cup preliminary winner. They beat Ngwaabe City Motors 1-0 in the final to book a spot in the last game of the preliminary round against Hollywood bets inter-regional winners. The winner in the final match will be part of this season’s Nedbank Cup last 32.
Ngwaabe City Motors scored their winning goal via a controversial penalty.
City Motors players celebrate after scoring a winner against Tzaneen United via a penalty.