Tladi Moloi
Johannesburg
The 10-man Siwelele narrowly beat Marumo Gallants by 2-1 to win the Dstv Multichoice Diski Challenge (DDC) derby. Thanks to Siyabonga Mavuso and Keitumetse Lesia who scored the two goals for the home team while Thuto Malefetsane netted for Gallants.
A nail-biting encounter that saw three goals scored and produced a red card to the home side was played at the University of Johannesburg, Soweto campus on Saturday morning.
A game had produced all aspects of a derby with the two teams which are regarded as the Bloemfontein teams produced fireworks during the 90+ minutes of the game.
It was Siwelele who produced the first punch with just 13 minutes from the kick-off when Mavuso coolly converted from the six-yard box sending the keeper the wrong way to make the score reading 1-0.
Few minutes after they conceded a goal, Gallants players woke up and started knocking the ball around trying to find space behind the opponents last line of defence. Their persistence finally paid off when Malefetsane known as Shikabala outran the defence to score an equalizer with just four minutes before the interval, 1-1.
Gallants started where they left off in the second stanza pushing more numbers into the opponent’s half… Prince Van Whye, was sent for an early shower when he was shown a second yellow, resulting in a red. However, Siwelele never let that destroy their focus as they went all out to find the second goal when Lesia’s grass cutter needed the pole assist before it went in, 2-1.
Gallants came strong to find the equalizer but Siwelele remained rock solid at the back.
Tumelo Ndaba, the Siwelele head coach said he was happy his boys managed to come back from back-to-back defeats to Orlando Pirates and Durban City. “We needed a win very badly after two defeats. The boys showed character. Winning the game with one man down demanded a log technically. I am happy with what we have achieved as a team to date,” he said.
Trevor Mashiane, the Gallants head coach pointed out that they should have won the game if they converted the chances they created. “We created a number of chances but failed to convert. We should go back to the drawing board and make sure that we finish our chances,” he said.
