New club Cape Town City in final
Tinkler praises his players
SUPERSPORT United will battle for the Telkom Cup final against bridesmaid Cape Town City after a Thabo Mnyamane’s first-half goal helped them to defeat a 10-man Orlando Pirates 1-0 in a Telkom Knockout Cup semifinal clash at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday evening.
Earlier, Eric Tinkler’s men booked their place in the final with a comfortable 4-1 win over Free State Stars at Athlone Stadium
Goals from Lebogang Manyama, Roland Putsche, Mpho Matsi and Aubrey Ngoma saw Tinkler’s side power to a victory over Ea Lla Koto and secure their first major cup final, with the Cape club only having been formed a few months ago.
City were the stronger team in the early stages and they were rewarded within the opening 10 minutes when they were granted a penalty by the referee – Stars’ Katlego Mashego was guilty of a clumsy foul on Aubrey Ngoma.
Captain Lebogang Manyama took on the responsibility of the spot-kick and easily beat Thela Ngobeni to make it 1-0 to the hosts in the 10th minute.
Tinkler hailed his for a “phenomenal performance” as they booked a cup final berth for the first time just five months after the formation of the club.
Saturday’s victory over Free State Stars could have been even bigger had it not been for wasted chances and the heroics in goal of the visiting goalkeeper Thela Ngobeni.
But the Cape Town City coach remained delighted with the result and the way City have marched to the top of the domestic game after seven successive wins.
“It’s been a fantastic campaign and when we started‚ right at the beginning‚ we said that the league would always be our priority.
“But in the cup I told the players they had a chance to create a legacy and become part of the history of this new club. And they have done that.
“It was a phenomenal performance‚ we created so many chances.
“We planned for a 3-5-2 approach from Stars and our planning turned out perfectly‚” Tinkler said.
“The transition from defence to attack was excellent and we could have had five goals at half-time. It was a bit of a concern that we were only 2-1 up.
“I told the players at half time we needed to go out and fix that and put our chances in the back of the net and then it ended up being a very comfortable win for us.”
City went into the game with concern over the team’s centre-backs after regular Tshepo Gumede and Robyn Johannes were both suspended.
“They shifted Thamsanqa Mkhize from right back to the middle and‚ alongside him‚ gave a debut to the 21-year-old Joseph Adjei from Ghana,” Tinkler said.
“I thought both centre-backs did a fantastic job.
“We have a squad with enough depth‚ I think we’ve proved that now. Obviously we don’t want to lose key players but we have enough cover.
“Plus we have a very good team spirit where the players all want to play for each other.”
Tinkler‚ the former Orlando Pirates coach‚ was disappointed not to see his old club through to the final and set up a reunion with his former players.
“It would have ben nice to play Pirates in front of 50 000 people in Durban, maybe?”
At Mbombela Stadium both teams were looking to stamp their authority in the opening stages of the game – with Mnyamane testing Pirates goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane with a powerful shot from range in the fifth minute.
Pirates midfielder Mpho Makola had a chance to give his side the lead a minute later, but the Bafana Bafana international volleyed the ball wide of goal.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 21st minute by Mnyamane, who scored from close range to make it 1-0 to SuperSport following a defensive error by the Pirates backline.
Bucs then pushed forward in numbers in search of an immediate response with Luvuyo Memela forcing SuperSport keeper Reyaad Pieterse into a good save in the 35th minute.