Hunt’s Wits are held scoreless by Horoya
WITS coach Gavin Hunt had dejection written all over his face after his troops got their Confederation Cup group stage campaign off to a disappointing 0-0 draw to Horoya at Dobsonville Stadium yesterday afternoon.
Hunt’s expression was a reflection of the hardships they had to endure as a team to get this far in the competition, following a heartbreaking talk made by former CEO Jose Ferreira that the Confederation Cup won’t be a “priority” due to the club’s financial woes this season.
In the qualifiers of the group stage, the Clever Boys went about their business as usual though, brushing aside Young Buffaloes 3-1 on aggregate in the preliminary round before hammering UD Songo 8-1 on aggregate to become the fourth team in Group C which also includes Al-Naser and Djoliba.
But they receive their biggest challenge when they welcomed the Guineans yesterday. The visitors were more determined to walk away with something, especially after the score was deadlocked at 0-0 heading into the interval as the home team could couldn’t capitalise on a handful chances in front of goal.
And that must have been a disappointing return for Hunt, who had fielded mostly his regular starting XI, having just dropped defensive midfielder Cole Alexander for attacker Hashim Domingo, who was playing behind Mxolisi Macuphu.
Domingo did offer the Clever Boys creativity up front and should have grabbed the lead for the hosts early in game but ballooned his longrange effort into the empty stands.
But not all was lost, though, as that half-chance gave the home team a bit of fluidity in their build-up play but they couldn’t get past the Guinean side’s defence.
The west Africans sat back, allowing Wits to take the game to them, but they were quick on the breakaway, especially with gigantic striker Aristide Bance their target man.
It was, however, Amadou Djibo who had his team’s only real chance in the first half as he cut in from the left flank before sending his effort inches wide of Ricardo Goss’s near post.
The second half proved no different from the first, Wits’ carpet football letting them down as the Guinean team continued to defend in numbers.
But there was a glimmer of hope when Gift Motupa came on for Macuphu, who is Wits’ top goal scorer in the competition but was watched like a hawk by Horoya’s defence as a clean sheet was imperative for them.
Hunt’s men will be disappointed with the outcome, especially at home, but they’ll be hoping to open their account in the competition when they travel to Mali on Sunday to face Djiloba.