SuperSport sink Maritzburg
A WIN, draw and loss. That is Maritzburg United’s output in the new Absa Premiership season, but their fans will hope the regressive sequence of results, coupled with a lack of goals, is not a bad omen.
After stunning Celtic 1-0 away and holding defending champions Sundowns to a goalless draw at home, Maritzburg’s first loss of the campaign was delivered by a lone Thuso Phala goal for SuperSport United at Harry Gwala Stadium last night.
The fans, who witnessed relegation trouble last season, did get to see a lively encounter in suitable weather conditions, but both teams will feel they should have been more ruthless in the last third of the field.
Phala’s strike, just before the break, came as a reward for SuperSport holding the upper hand in the first half, but Maritzburg got nothing for their dominance in the second half, which included two unsuccessful penalty appeals by coach Ernst Middendorp’s team.
Middendorp said afterwards: “To concede a goal like that is a bitter pill to swallow. But our performance overall, especially the way we picked up the pace in the second half, was very positive.”
Not surprisingly, Maritz- burg placed their faith in a counter-attacking approach at the start against their more illustrious opponents, and the chosen central defenders were Brian Onyango and recent signings Bevan Fransman and Denis Weidlich.
The SuperSport line-up did not only feature several Chiefs old boys, but also a couple of men who used to campaign for Maritzburg in the past.
Jeremy Brockie shaped up as the man to watch, but the striker from New Zealand was unusually quiet in the first half as teammates Aubrey Modiba, Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Thuso Phala either had shots blocked by Maritzburg goalkpeer Virgil Vries or missed the target.
Attacking
The visitors saw hope in attacking down the flanks with as much pace as possible and, while Zimbabwean fullback Onismor Bhasera was always eager to fly down the left against one of his former clubs, Phala tried to get behind the home defence from the opposite side.
Maritzburg striker Evans Rusike also had inviting opportunities to break the deadlock in the lively encounter before the half-hour mark, but the lanky Zimbabwean caused far less trouble to opposing goalkeeper Ronwen Williams than expected by shooting well wide.
Williams had more difficulty denying midfielder Abia Nale inside the box in the 34th minute and, as the ball moved from end to end, Nale was blocked by a defender and SA Under-23 star Deolin Mekoa ballooned the rebounder, before Modiba shot wide at the other end.
Young Modiba who has the rare nickname of “Postman”, made amends by being the provider for the opening goal by Phala on the break in the 43rd minute.
After the interval, Vries was rescued by defender Pogiso Sanoka’s goalline clearance when he spilled a shot, then the hosts hoped that the fresh legs of diminutive substitute Sheldon van Wyk would bring them back into the game from enterprising manoeuvres on the left.
A dangerous shot from Van Wyk was deflected over the bar in the 59th and, from the resultant corner kick, goal-seeking defender Weidlich headed the ball over at the near post as the hosts turned up the pressure.
There was always a threat of SuperSport getting a second, insurance goal in the remaining minutes, but neither team troubled the goalkeepers as much as they would have liked.
Next up for Maritzburg is a trip to unsettled Chiefs on Saturday (6pm kick-off), while SuperSport host Free State Stars in uMlazi two hours later.