By Chris Totobela
Football lovers made their way to JD Dlepu Stadium on Saturday, and on show was the first game of the new Hollywood Bets Regional League season.
Makhanda’s title hopefuls, Maru FC, hosted Port Alfred-based Mighty Forest in the league opener.
Both teams started the game shakily, giving away possession. The first 15 to 20 minutes of the first half were a bit scrappy, with both sets of players struggling to put their foot on the ball.
Maru players, however, started finding their feet and threatened the visitors’ goal mouth. Maru’s left winger had three consecutive chances to put his side in the lead, but fumbled all of them.
The local team created a lot of chances but failed to convert them. They were made to pay in the 39th minute when their defence was caught napping and allowed Thabane Jaca a free header in the near post, with both the goalkeeper and his defenders ball-watching after a well taken corner kick.
The visitors took their single goal lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, the home side started where they left off, putting the visitors under pressure, but the visitors had a clear and effective game plan as they allowed Maru to have the ball in their own half, waiting for them to cross the halfway line before pressing them.
Mighty Forest looked more comfortable on the ball and used the transition effectively, making use of the speed of their wingers.
Maru made a few changes, bringing on their reliable goal scorer, Vuyani Skeyi, who immediately made an impact as he kept the visitors’ defenders very busy and was brought down in the penalty area as he bulldozed his way towards goal and the referee was left with no choice but to point to the spot, with only 21 minutes left on the clock.
Maru’s captain and centre back, Lisakhanya Makretsi, took the spot kick and sent the keeper the wrong way to level matters.
Maru pushed hard in search of a winner, but lack of communication upfront let them down as most of the time they found three to four of their players unmarked in good positions.
In the 82nd minute, Forest caught the home side with a quick transition and their defence was once again caught in sixes and sevens as Athule Fesi broke the line between Maru’s defenders and tapped home the winner.
The goal stunned the home side into action as they threw everything at their opponents, but lady luck deserted them as the referee blew the final whistle.
Maru’s head coach, Siya Dumiso, told Grocott’s Mail after the game that theirs was still work in progress. “My boys played well and had they taken all their chances in the first half, we would be singing a different tune now. We will definitely learn from this and move on. This was our first game and we still have a lot of games to play and we are going to try and push for the title this season and I think we have a good squad that can help us achieve that.”
Maru had a good game and it was there for them to take, but they made two serious defensive errors and were made to pay. They will have to redeem themselves in their next game which is more likely to be an away game.
