Mthatha Bucks have been relegated after a 3-0 loss to Jomo Cosmos at the Mthatha Stadium on Saturday.
Their relegation means the Eastern Cape has no represantives in the National First Division (NFD), a situation which can be described as dire in the soccer fraternity.
Bucks coach Julius Dube blamed the loss to a lack of discipline by his players. Dube also vented his anger at people who have been criticising the team arguing that they had no idea of the embattled club’s in-depth problems.
“I think the players are to blame for this mess,” he retorted. “The ill-discipline of the players is what killed this team and that’s why it is where it is today .”
Dube admitted that Bucks lost the game in the first half as his players never showed up for the occasion.
This even though the match was a do-or-die for the club.
“The game was chilled in the first half, but then we made three mistakes that cost us those three goals and those goals killed the boys.
“We came back, but we didn’t impose any threat towards Cosmos, we were just playing in front of them and they were managing the game.
“So I can say we lost game in the first half, and the character of the players really let us down.”
When asked whether he would continue with his coaching duties at Bucks now that they have been relegated to the ABC Motsepe League, Dube was evasive, opting to rather focus on the two games left although they will be meaningless.
“At the moment it’s not about that, it’s to focus on the last two games in the league. We need to be professional and make sure that we finish properly. And after that we’ll sit down with the management and discuss where we are going next season,” he said.
Cosmos coach Jomo Sono concurred with Dube that they finished the game in the first half.
“In the second half I wasn’t expecting much from my boys, because normally they take the foot off the pedal when it’s still zero.
“But still in the second half we missed about three easy chances, but to be honest I was surprised because I left about six of my regular players out. And I was surprised with the guys who have not played, I thought we did well in the first half,” he chuckled.
Sono said he knew if they could score only one goal from the start Bucks’ hopes would be dashed.
“If a team is in the relegation zone and you score early – that’s it because the mind goes. And you could see in the second half there was danger at the back and we defended well because we wanted to catch them on the counter-attack.”
Cosmos will on Saturday host Super Eagles before finishing their campaign against Black Leopards as they step closer to qualifying for the Premier League playoffs.
“We had lost games and played draws, but I’m happy that the boys have started to regroup. Playing at home we’ll make things difficult for Eagles.
“It’s not easy playing at Vosloorus and I think if we win against them we’ve already qualified for the play-offs,” said Sono.
Bucks will now prepare to host Real Kings at the same venue before going away to former coach Ian Palmer – who’s now with Super Eagles at Goble Park before formally exiting NFD to the third-tier league.
Other results: Black Leopards 4 Richards Bay 0, Ubuntu Cape Town 0 Royal Eagles 1, Real Kings 1 University of Pretoria 1, Super Eagles 0 TTM 0, Uthongathi 1 Mbombela United 0.
Game over for Bucks
Their relegation means the Eastern Cape has no represantives in the National First Division (NFD), a situation which can be described as dire in the soccer fraternity.
Bucks coach Julius Dube blamed the loss to a lack of discipline by his players. Dube also vented his anger at people who have been criticising the team arguing that they had no idea of the embattled club’s in-depth problems.
“I think the players are to blame for this mess,” he retorted. “The ill-discipline of the players is what killed this team and that’s why it is where it is today .”
Dube admitted that Bucks lost the game in the first half as his players never showed up for the occasion.
This even though the match was a do-or-die for the club.
“The game was chilled in the first half, but then we made three mistakes that cost us those three goals and those goals killed the boys.
“We came back, but we didn’t impose any threat towards Cosmos, we were just playing in front of them and they were managing the game.
“So I can say we lost game in the first half, and the character of the players really let us down.”
When asked whether he would continue with his coaching duties at Bucks now that they have been relegated to the ABC Motsepe League, Dube was evasive, opting to rather focus on the two games left although they will be meaningless.
“At the moment it’s not about that, it’s to focus on the last two games in the league. We need to be professional and make sure that we finish properly. And after that we’ll sit down with the management and discuss where we are going next season,” he said.
Cosmos coach Jomo Sono concurred with Dube that they finished the game in the first half.
“In the second half I wasn’t expecting much from my boys, because normally they take the foot off the pedal when it’s still zero.
“But still in the second half we missed about three easy chances, but to be honest I was surprised because I left about six of my regular players out. And I was surprised with the guys who have not played, I thought we did well in the first half,” he chuckled.
Sono said he knew if they could score only one goal from the start Bucks’ hopes would be dashed.
“If a team is in the relegation zone and you score early – that’s it because the mind goes. And you could see in the second half there was danger at the back and we defended well because we wanted to catch them on the counter-attack.”
Cosmos will on Saturday host Super Eagles before finishing their campaign against Black Leopards as they step closer to qualifying for the Premier League playoffs.
“We had lost games and played draws, but I’m happy that the boys have started to regroup. Playing at home we’ll make things difficult for Eagles.
“It’s not easy playing at Vosloorus and I think if we win against them we’ve already qualified for the play-offs,” said Sono.
Bucks will now prepare to host Real Kings at the same venue before going away to former coach Ian Palmer – who’s now with Super Eagles at Goble Park before formally exiting NFD to the third-tier league.
Other results: Black Leopards 4 Richards Bay 0, Ubuntu Cape Town 0 Royal Eagles 1, Real Kings 1 University of Pretoria 1, Super Eagles 0 TTM 0, Uthongathi 1 Mbombela United 0.
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