A late goal by Tshepiso Lietsisa gave Mthatha Bucks a fighting chance to stay in the National First Division after his brilliant goal secured a 2-2 draw against Richards Bay at the Mthatha Stadium yesterday afternoon.
Bucks conceded in the first five minute of the game trailing behind for a good 30 minutes and the new head coach Julius Dube remarked that his charges didn’t deserve to lose.
“Conceding in the first minutes of the game has been a sickness of the team but we are going to try and work on it.
“Towards the end we had to throw everything we had in the second half.
“The substitutes we brought on gave us that dimension of pushing and they tried and in the end they got the equaliser. They didn’t deserve to lose today,” said Dube.
He told the team in a break to go all out because they still had a chance to avoid relegation.
“I told them it’s all or nothing and we just have give it our best even if we go down fighting we must go down with a fight.
“I’m not saying we are going down as yet.
“We still have 21 points to fight for and it’s nice because people have already written us off so we’ll keep on pushing and we’ll try and get whatever points we can get.
“The boys know how I operate as I have worked with a lot of them before and we have mutual respect for each other,” said Dube.
During the fast-paced game Michael Gumede opened the scoring in the fifth minute and Bucks were trailing behind the visitors.
In the 19th minute Bucks had an opportunity to equalise when Samnkelo Ndletyana took a free-kick just outside the box but the Bay defence, together with goalkeeper Xolani Ngcobo were on full alert. Then some 30 minutes later Bucks got a penalty taken by Linda Bhengu who did not disappoint and rattled the net after he sent Ngcobo in the opposite direction and leaving the score 1-1.
In the 79th minute Richards Bay’s substitution Menzi Hlope, who replaced Khayelihle Shozi, scored a second goal for the visitors, putting extra pressure on Dube’s charges.
Bucks were owning the second half with Bhengu and Loyiso Simandla taking chances at goal but with no luck. They were making an excellentcombination giving the visitors plenty of problems.
In the last minute of the six minutes of added time, Lietsisa took a beautiful free-kick and scored, forcing a 2-2- draw.
Bucks in tight draw with Bay
Bucks conceded in the first five minute of the game trailing behind for a good 30 minutes and the new head coach Julius Dube remarked that his charges didn’t deserve to lose.
“Conceding in the first minutes of the game has been a sickness of the team but we are going to try and work on it.
“Towards the end we had to throw everything we had in the second half.
“The substitutes we brought on gave us that dimension of pushing and they tried and in the end they got the equaliser. They didn’t deserve to lose today,” said Dube.
He told the team in a break to go all out because they still had a chance to avoid relegation.
“I told them it’s all or nothing and we just have give it our best even if we go down fighting we must go down with a fight.
“I’m not saying we are going down as yet.
“We still have 21 points to fight for and it’s nice because people have already written us off so we’ll keep on pushing and we’ll try and get whatever points we can get.
“The boys know how I operate as I have worked with a lot of them before and we have mutual respect for each other,” said Dube.
During the fast-paced game Michael Gumede opened the scoring in the fifth minute and Bucks were trailing behind the visitors.
In the 19th minute Bucks had an opportunity to equalise when Samnkelo Ndletyana took a free-kick just outside the box but the Bay defence, together with goalkeeper Xolani Ngcobo were on full alert. Then some 30 minutes later Bucks got a penalty taken by Linda Bhengu who did not disappoint and rattled the net after he sent Ngcobo in the opposite direction and leaving the score 1-1.
In the 79th minute Richards Bay’s substitution Menzi Hlope, who replaced Khayelihle Shozi, scored a second goal for the visitors, putting extra pressure on Dube’s charges.
Bucks were owning the second half with Bhengu and Loyiso Simandla taking chances at goal but with no luck. They were making an excellentcombination giving the visitors plenty of problems.
In the last minute of the six minutes of added time, Lietsisa took a beautiful free-kick and scored, forcing a 2-2- draw.
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