The Miners FC lost 2-1 against Barnato FC in the second division blue stream.
The Miners Football Club suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of Barnato Football Club in the Wits Internal League, on Monday, August 19 at the Digz Field.
It took a while for both teams to warm up to the game, as supporters and coaches yelled at the teams to play better.
The Miners missed a goal in the 18th minute when Barnato’s defender, Mohale Nakana, kicked the ball out of the field, which temporarily suspended the match as both teams went searching for the ball for nearly 20 minutes.
As the game resumed, the Miners had several shots at goal, until third year student Malusi Gumede scored the first goal of the match in the 44th minute. The 21-year-old told Wits Vuvuzela, “I was very excited about scoring; it had been a long time since I scored a goal and especially because it is rare for a defender to score.”
Being under pressure to score, the opponents started playing a rough game, resulting in a foul earning Miner’s Charles Mafukata a free kick on the 47th minute.
The Miners were playing more in their half of the field, and had recurring corner kicks without scoring more goals.
Once in possession of the ball the opposition used speed tactics and at the 64th minute, Barnato’s right wing, Zipho Memani, scored the teams first goal to equalise with the Miners. Ten minutes, later, Neo Sehlahla, Barnato’s striker, scored the teams second goal.
The Masters in African Languages student, Sehlahla told Wits Vuvuzela, “Our strategy was to go hard at them because we know how Miners play. They are fast runners and so we manipulated them by playing on their side and allowed them to make mistakes which cost them the game.”
The disappointed Miners coach, Kaizer Maphanga said, “We started well, the first half of the match was relatively good but second half was different, they changed their formation and played with two strikers and we struggled, we made mistakes but overall they played well. I cannot fault my players. We win and lose as a team.”
FEATURED IMAGE: Miners FC and Barnato FC players after losing the ball at the Digz Field. Photo: Jabulile Mbatha
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