Bucks set for test on the Cape beachhead

All Stars in way for last 32 spot

MTHATHA Bucks defender Mashale Rantabane is hoping that history repeats itself as his side meet Cape Town All Stars in an NFD Nedbank Cup qualifier at Parow Park Stadium today at 3pm.

The Mthatha outfit last year qualified for the Nedbank last 32 after emerging 2-0 victors over the same opponents in the same qualifiers.

This time, said Rantabane, their confidence is bolstered after they hammered Milano United by 3-1 just last weekend in a league clash.

He said they knew what to expect as the Cape Town sides play a similar band of football, since Milano are also based in the Mother City.

The no-nonsense defender believes they will be out to continue on the Milano thrashing momentum.

Unlike last season when they qualified for the last 32 only for their campaign to end there after losing to Santos, Rantabane said they were in it to go all the way this time around.

Should Bucks win today, they will advance to the lucrative Nedbank Cup last 32, with seven other NFD sides to join all 16 Premier League clubs, and eight clubs from the ABC Motsepe Provincial Leagues wherein the Eastern Cape will be represented by E C Bees.

Rantabane is confident that they will rock the boat against All Stars in front of their home fans.

“We are ready for All Stars and we draw confidence for our previous results against them in this competition, but also from our recent form of winning against their neighbours Milano United last weekend, because we know Cape Town sides have closely similar football styles,” said the former Orlando Pirates man.

“We played well in our previous match and, therefore, would like to keep that momentum, as you know we played too many draws before the Milano match.”

With the Bucks backline not having been convincing in the league campaign, Rantabane said they had worked hard on it and the single goal leaked against Milano was proof of improvement.

But, he said, they would only be satisfied when they manage to keep clean sheets, starting this afternoon.

And Bucks, currently fifth in the logstandings, are not in the business of not taking cup competitions seriously.

“We will compete in both competitions and give it our all and go as far as we can in the Nedbank Cup and push for automatic promotion or playoff spot in the league,” said Rantabane.

The head-to-head between the two sides is even because in four meetings Bucks won twice while the same is the case with All Stars.

Other NFD Nedbank Cup qualifiers taking place today at 3pm: Santos v AmaZulu (Athlone Stadium), F C Cape Town v Black Leopards (NNK Rugby Stadium), Stellenbosch FC v Thanda Royal Zulu (Coetzenberg Stadium), University of Pretoria v Witbank Spurs (Tuks Stadium), Mbombela United v Real Kings FC (Kanyamazane Stadium), Royal Eagles v Milano (Harry Gwala Stadium) and Magesi FC v Jomo Cosmos (Old Peter Mokaba Stadium). —