Cometh the Bucks with Milano win

“Cometh the hour, cometh the man” is a popular idiom used to illustrate how the biggest challenges in life always bring out the best in people as they rise to face adversity."

The same phrase can best describe what happened at the Mthatha Stadium on Saturday afternoon when a Mthatha Bucks side, full of promise but languishing dangerously close to the relegation drop, summoned enough courage to beat a visiting Milano United 3-0 in an entertaining National First Division clash.

Faced with the dreaded prospect of finding themselves back in the lower leagues at the end of the season, the Amathol’amnyama responded in emphatic fashion when they trounced a hard-running Milano who seemed to lack ideas of how to stop the Bucks juggernaut, especially in the second half.

This was only the second time since the start of the season that the Eastern Cape lads have managed to win a game in their backyard having clobbered Moroka Swallows in December.

For months, Bucks coach Velile Dyaloyi had attributed the team’s inability to convert chances to bad luck.

However, Bucks players finally put their hands up to be counted at the weekend, when they turned superior ball possession into a glut of goals.

Coming into the game in 14th position, even the club’s loyal supporters could not have imagined how Saturday's game would have panned out, especially against a team lying in fourth position on the log.

It was no surprise when they went 1-0 up within the opening 15 minutes of the game when the impressive Thabiso Mokoena coolly slotted the ball past the outstretched hands of Milano goalie Lee Langeveld after Bucks were awarded a penalty.

Whether it was the recent international break or tiredness that contributed to Milano’s lax second-half showing, is unclear.

There was nothing Langeveld could do when the tricky Andile Njokweni went on a slalom run which saw him eliminate two defenders to put in the second goal for the hosts, sending the whole stadium into raptures.

Central defender Mashale Ranthabane rounded off the scoring when he pounced on a loose ball to power home a head after Langeveld had pulled off another great save following a Bucks free kick outside the penalty area.

However, there was further drama after the game with both Solomons and his captain and former Bafana Bafana international Nasief Morris blaming the referee for some dubious decisions, including awarding what they thought was a “soft” penalty.

“The decision throughout the game looked dubious. For me it was a soft penalty. They are a good team and I don’t think they need favours from the referee,” a fuming Solomons said.

Morris, meanwhile, said the players' heads had dropped in the second half as the referee continuously blew against them for fouls.

But a glowing Dyaloyi said Saturday’s victory, which saw his team jump above Vasco da Gama and Thanda Royal Zulu to 12th spot on the log, had been long overdue.

And he reckoned a good two more wins would see his side safe from relegation come the end of the season.

“Today they were determined and scored quality goals. If we can get two more wins, I think we can be safe. My players have been playing well but not scoring goals. But today they responded,” he added.

Team captain Samkelo Ndletyana said the aim had been to get an early goal to calm the nerves.

Bucks will next take on Black Leopards away from home. But Ndletyana said they were optimistic about getting a good result as they always performed well when playing away from home. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za