Proud Tornado coach Tshepo Motsoeneng thinks something had to give at some point as they held on for dear life during their Nedbank Cup 1-0 defeat to Kaizer Chiefs after scoring an own goal in extra time at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane on Sunday.
“We had to break at some point as well because you could see that the legs were going,” said Motsoeneng after his charges managed to tame Chiefs for 93 minutes.
It took an own goal by Tornado’s Abongile Twani in extra time to push Chiefs through to the last 16 teams in the running for the R7-million grand prize.
“We came to the game knowing very well what is it that Chiefs were going to do and how they’d go about it.
“But we have to give them the respect they deserve but we also knew we wouldn’t get an avalanche of chances. But the ones we get we had to convert.
“And there was a situation where I felt that we could have played the ball instead of showcasing that we are good in carrying the ball, and that’s when we broke their transition twice,” said Motsoeneng.
The former AmaZulu shotstopper said a little bit of anxiety from his boys let them down as they had chances to score.
“Our first chance to score in the game was a setpiece, and I don’t know how [Virgil] Vries [Chiefs goalkeeper] got to that ball.
“It was a well worked setpiece – dipped in the box. Luck was just not on our side and the own goal came.
“And playing at this stadium it’s more like we are playing away. We come here for a session and that’s not enough, because you could see my boys were struggling there and their muscles pulling.
“Because we play in an artificial pitch and it’s smaller than this. But I still have to go and look at the match tapes and see where we can improve as a team.”
Motsoeneng said their mission of taking the Soweto giants to task was complete.
“It took an own goal to separate us and Chiefs, and you can never find a team that is this competitive in ABC Motsepe.
“Only just luck was not on our side, in terms of how we have to go upfront with numbers, because we know they aren’t a good team in terms of defending.
“Our top man [Kefuwe] Siyoko played with [Daniel] Cardoso at Free State Stars. So we knew him, and even when I said to him [Siyoko] change to [Teenage] Hadebe he would find a way to track him down. Hence I think my boys did well,” said Motsoeneng.
Tornado will on Tuesday resume their league commitments against Matta Milan as they continue with their quest for the ABC Motsepe League promotional playoffs, set down to be hosted in Cape Town later in the year.
“We are playing at home, but that means no rest for my players and those with fresh legs – I hope they were watching the game.
“And they will exert themselves as much as the ones that were playing, because we have to rest them.”
Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp conceded they had opportunities to finish the game from the first whistle.
“I’m glad we qualified for the last 16 teams, but we could have done better. But I guess we have to design a better training programme to bring the players in this scenario.
“But the penetration was much better on the day. I saw Teenage Hadebe and Daniel Cardoso coming from the back to attack.
“We had a bit of evaluation in the second half that we tried to not only do the short passes but tried to scratch the ball through into the half space with longer balls.
“But it was good to see that we have to produce a better flow and understanding of our game,” said Middendorp.
When the Daily Dispatch asked about how he felt about the fact of his professional side failing to score against a developmental team, Middendorp said he would not answer that “type of question”.
“That type of question I’ll leave to you to answer. I think they’ve [Tornado] done a fantastic job to put their legs in each and every ball in a very fantastic way.
“And they deserve a huge compliment. In that question I don’t have feelings because I know we can do better and we will do better.”
Both coaches didn’t have comments on the match officiating – as there was an outcry that Tornado was robbed of a clear penalty which could have turned their game around...