Lions send a message with convincing win

Luckless Leopards fall at the final play-offs hurdle against Baroka

THEIR supporters packed the stadium to the rafters and cajoled them on in a massive way. The soccer gods smiled on them and got their opponents playing essentially the entire second half one man short, ending the match 1-1.

Still, Black Leopards could not profit from what appeared circumstances convenient for their return to the Premiership.

Lidoda Duvha once again came short in the promotional play-offs, this draw ringing hollow as they failed to achieve victory by the required twogoal margin to usurp Baroka atop the three-team mini league table.

It left club owner David Thidiela disconsolate, the old man wondering just what more his team should do to return to the top table.

He had appeared confident promotion was theirs, the sight of the stadium teeming with his supporters inducing him to walk around the pitch saluting them and at some stage even leading them in song and dance.

That though, was to be the only celebration he enjoyed, as Baroka contrived to impose doom and gloom on him and an arena that was so full and lively it brought back memories of the old Orlando Stadium of the eighties.

It was always going to be a tall ask for Leopards to pull the rug from under Baroka’s feet, the home team needing to win by two clear goals to beat their opposition on goal difference.

Having put three past Stellenbosch midweek, Leopards clearly believed they could do the same to Baroka. The players appeared to have been infused with the crowd’s energy as they started the match enthusiastically and asked questions of the visitors’ defence from the onset.

A cat and mouse battle ensued thereafter with Leopards looking the most dangerous going forward only to be let down by poor decision making in the final third.

They were soon paying for their profligacy as Baroka took the lead via Mduduzi Mdatsane, who slotted home a loose ball after Muleka Rotshidzwa failed to hold on to Richard Matloga’s shot.

A goal down at halftime, Leopards needed to return from the recess firing or suffer yet another close shave with promotion. Victor Letsoalo got himself sent off via a second bookable offence to leave Baroka a man short but it took Leopards a while to profit and even so it was from the penalty spot, captain Siphelele Nsthangase converting to send the stadium on their feet and cajoling the men in pink.

The play-offs though are just not Leopards’ thing and try as they could, they just could not find the breakthrough.

A little further south of the province they celebrated Baroka’s survival in the elite league with gusto. THE British and Irish Lions sent a strong message to All Blacks coach Steve Hansen yesterday with an impressive 32-10 victory over the Maori All Blacks.

The Test series is going to be the struggle everyone expected it to be. The Lions had lurched through the first four matches of their tour with only one solid performance, the 12-3 win over the Canterbury Crusaders last Saturday.

In Rotorua, however, they ground the Maori into submission and pulled off a victory that could have been more emphatic.

The game had been billed as an unofficial fourth test, but the Lions produced such a brutal and clinical second half, particularly when Maori scrumhalf Tawera Kerr-barlow was in the sinbin, the home side were struggling to hang on.

Lions coach Warren Gatland said the result, and the fact that Hansen had been speaking out about the visitors in the past week, indicated that he was getting concerned about the test series.

“Normally he’s pretty calm but he has been doing a lot of press conferences and I can only take that as a sign of respect,” Gatland said.

“The only thing I can take from that is that Steve is a little bit worried about potentially how good this team can be.

Gatland added that his side had been under pressure after the patchy performances, which included 22-16 loss to the Blues and a 23-22 defeat by the Highlanders last Tuesday.

Many pundits have noted there was a significant difference in performance between the Lions teams that played ‘midweek’ and the one on Saturday, which is expected to make up the majority of his first test side.

Gatland, however, reiterated the message that he has adopted throughout the tour.

“We have been written off but we have said all along that it’s about winning the test series and that’s what we’re here to do,” he said.

“If we drop a couple of games along the way then we can live with that as long as we showed improvement.

“We know we have got a big step up against the All Blacks but all I can say is that is it going to be a great series.

“We’re benefiting from the experience of playing the quality of sides we are. Everyone can get excited about it.” – Reuters