Acornbush United central defender Mzwandile Buthelezi scored a late goal to help his side to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Gauteng champions Maccabi FC and sent the top Mpumalanga side to the summit of the ABC Motsepe playoffs Group A at Buffalo City Stadium on Tuesday.
Before the goal deep in the 84th minute Acornbush had camped in Maccabi's half as they threw everything at them. Tuesday's performance was a great showing to the team's first outing, a dull 0-0 draw against Super Eagles of Free State on Monday.
The win will go a long way in helping the team that had already declared itself as the ABC Motsepe League national champions before kicking the ball.
When Buthelezi connected with the corner-kick to score the only game of the match, Acornbush fans who sang and beat the drum throughout the game went crazy while members of the technical team rolled on the floor.
The loss for Maccabi means they are now rooted at the bottom of the group dubbed the "group of death".
In the first half both Acornbush and Maccabi were too cautious as neither team did not want to concede first. They congested the middle of the park in an attempt to dictate the pace of the game.
But surprisingly both teams opted to play balls behind the defenders - a tactic that did not work but resulted in the teams playing ping-pong instead of good carpet soccer.
Acornbush had to make two forced substitutions as Thulani Ndlela and Sibonisi Khumalo were stretchered off the field. They were replaced by Sandy Nyathi and Ayanda Sibanda.
Except for a shot on target by Maccabi right-back Nathaniel Tladi from the edge of the box which forced a diving save from Smiso Ndlela in the 34th minute, the opening half failed to produce any sparks.
Late strike saves day for Acornbush
Acornbush United central defender Mzwandile Buthelezi scored a late goal to help his side to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Gauteng champions Maccabi FC and sent the top Mpumalanga side to the summit of the ABC Motsepe playoffs Group A at Buffalo City Stadium on Tuesday.
Before the goal deep in the 84th minute Acornbush had camped in Maccabi's half as they threw everything at them. Tuesday's performance was a great showing to the team's first outing, a dull 0-0 draw against Super Eagles of Free State on Monday.
The win will go a long way in helping the team that had already declared itself as the ABC Motsepe League national champions before kicking the ball.
When Buthelezi connected with the corner-kick to score the only game of the match, Acornbush fans who sang and beat the drum throughout the game went crazy while members of the technical team rolled on the floor.
The loss for Maccabi means they are now rooted at the bottom of the group dubbed the "group of death".
In the first half both Acornbush and Maccabi were too cautious as neither team did not want to concede first. They congested the middle of the park in an attempt to dictate the pace of the game.
But surprisingly both teams opted to play balls behind the defenders - a tactic that did not work but resulted in the teams playing ping-pong instead of good carpet soccer.
Acornbush had to make two forced substitutions as Thulani Ndlela and Sibonisi Khumalo were stretchered off the field. They were replaced by Sandy Nyathi and Ayanda Sibanda.
Except for a shot on target by Maccabi right-back Nathaniel Tladi from the edge of the box which forced a diving save from Smiso Ndlela in the 34th minute, the opening half failed to produce any sparks.
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