Klate the hero as Students destroy hapless Sundowns
FINALLY, the monkey is off Gavin Hunt s back after his side Bidvest Wits delivered a fine performance to beat Mamelodi Sundowns 3-0 yesterday to win the MTN8.
Prior to the clash, Hunt said: We have a very demanding owner [Brian Joffe] like Sundowns have, so they all want success like every other owner.”
Hunt will now walk into Joffe s office to deliver the MTN8 trophy
not the excuses after guiding his charges to cup glory for the first time in six years since they won the Nedbank Cup in 2010.
Half an hour before the start of the match it rained but it wasn t for long.
As brief as it was and not taking anything away from Wits, the rain made a big difference early on in the match.
After just 38 seconds, Wits defender Sifiso Hlanti took full advantage after Asavela Mbekile slipped to deliver a cross that Sundowns failed to clear.
And when the ball found its way to Daine Klate, the midfielder was well-positioned just outside the box to send it to the bottom corner for the opening goal.
Everyone was stunned, not least the Sundowns supporters who had been the most vocal against a small number from their Wits counterparts.
As Sundowns tried to recover from the setback, Klate played Elias Pelembe through on goal moments later but the Mozambican s effort was off target.
Out of frustration, perhaps, Hlompho Kekana could have been given his marching orders after just 14 minutes after a nasty challenge on Klate but was lucky to escape with a yellow instead.
Oh, the referee was Victor Gomes and he is not one to take any nonsense.
With their noses in front, Wits were playing with some confidence and before you knew it, they had their second after just 21 minutes.
Sundowns again failed to clear and were punished, this time by Eleazar Rodgers who got to the end of a loose ball to fire home.
Rodgers will do well to take his form to the national team after he was called up to the Bafana Bafana team to play Burkina Faso in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday in Ouagadougou.
Wits were in the mood with the likes of Klate and Gabadinho Mhango giving the Sundowns defenders a run around. The two combined well in the 34th minute, but Klate fired over.
Anthony Laffor had a penalty appeal turned down just before * + , the break and that, to some extent, summed up Sundowns first 45 minutes.
After the break, Wits continued to show that they wanted it more by putting on an impressive defensive display and some effective counter-attacks.
If this was a boxing match, the Sundowns bench would have thrown in the towel just after the hour mark when from a counter attack Rodgers teed up Klate, who only had to slide home for the third. Game over or so Sundowns thought.
Wits were not finished and Pelembe could have had added a fourth in the 67th minute but his shot was just wide.