By Chris Totobela
All Makhanda representatives in the Hollywood Bets Regional League were in action this past weekend and all achieved mixed results.
Maru FC snatched a much-needed away victory over United Eleven in Bathurst while City Pirates suffered an away defeat at the hands of Port Alfred-based Young Pirates.
In the main game of the weekend, XI Attackers hosted Port Alfred’s Mighty Forest in a tough but exciting clash on Saturday at a packed JD Dlepu Stadium. Both teams started weighing each other, trying to have an early advantage, but it was the homes ide that settled quicker.
Lubabalo Ntsongotha opened the scoring for the home side when he flicked a cross from the right over the oncoming goalkeeper and into the top corner of goal. Attackers took that lead to the halftime break.
In the second half, Mighty Forest pushed harder and were eventually rewarded when their striker was pushed off the ball inside the box, leaving the referee with no option but to award a penalty. The visitors calmly slotted the ball home to level the score.
Attackers introduced a few substitutes who immediately made an impact as super-sub Aurelio Frans scored a quick brace to extend the lead while the final nail on the visitors’ coffin came from Bongani Hashe, who tapped home from close range with only two minutes left on the clock.
The home side held on until the final whistle.
Attackers’ newly-appointed coach, Luis Ntlanjeni, spoke to GM after the game. “I think we played very well as we created a lot of chances, but we could have scored more goals. We also made a lot of box entries, a very good sign. We came to this game with a good game plan as our opponents played with a low block but we knew they were bound to crack at some stage. There were a lot of positives in this game and we are not in this league to add numbers but to compete .”
Ntlanjeni also took time to thank supporters, manager and players. “I would like to thank Attackers’ veterans and management for always supporting us at training and during games. I would also like to thank the people of Joza for always packing Dlepu stadium whenever we play and this means a lot to us.”
