Another humiliation for Diski Leopards

While Black Leopards are in a celebratory mood after beating Orlando Pirates 5-6 in their Nedbank Cup match at the Thohoyandou Stadium last Saturday, their younger brothers, the Multichoice Diski Challenge side, are in mourning.

They suffered a 0-3 drubbing at the hands of Lamontville Golden Arrows at the same venue the following day.

Although the team’s head coach, Mr Justice Matloga, is still adamant that they will soon bounce back, time is quickly running out for them. They have only two matches to play before wrapping up their league programme. A quick glance at their remaining two fixtures shows that collecting the maximum points from any of them will be like a camel going through the eye of a needle.

They will host the high-riding Polokwane City at the Thohoyandou Stadium tomorrow before paying a visit to Orlando Pirates in their final fixture for the season.

Sunday’s game against Golden Arrows was played on a wet pitch as the area was blessed with showers throughout the day. Although Lidoda Duvha were down and out for the better part of the game, their vastly experienced midfielder, Zwivhuya Matombo, remained a live wire. He was everywhere, collecting balls from behind while at the same time playing as a full striker.

The visitors from Durban took the lead in the 27^th minute. Nkosiyazi Maphumulo was brought down within the box and the Tshakhuma-based referee, Mr Fhulufhelo Masindi, did not hesitate to award a penalty. Thanda Kwela made no mistake from the white spot.

Arrows increased the lead six minutes before half time. Sibonelo Ngcongo forced his way through the Leopards’ defence and showed the keeper, Rendani Maduwa, the wrong way.

Leopards effected three changes to their original line-up later in the game, but the effort was not good enough to stop Arrows from scoring their third goal. Nkosikhona Dube beat the offside trap and blasted in a rocket from close range in the dying minutes of the game.  

Date:31 January 2019

By: Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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